The Mandalorian Rebel
by darksawr
Summary: When the crew of the Ghost are stranded on Tatooine they meet an ally whose hunger to terminate the empire rivals their own. And one Mandalorian starts to develope feelings for their new ally. Sabine x OC
1. Chapter 1

The Mandalorian Rebel

Chapter 1,

** Greeting readers this is my first story so please don't be too critical**

** A/U: Alright to be clear I'm a newbie author, I started when I saw that there wasn't any Sabine x OC male Mandalorian stories so I decided to make my own. I'm really nervous about my story and I need reviews so I'll know that you want me to continue, and I'm trying to start a trend here, so if you have an idea for a Sabine x OC story write a fanfiction on it.**

** Disclaimer: star wars belongs to Disney all I own is my OC Leonidas.**

The crew of the Ghost were currently having engine trouble on Tatooine, the hyper drive was damaged by an imperial TIE fighter before jumping into hyperspace when they were escaping after a mission on Raxus. Hera and Chopper were currently working on the engine but with little to no progress.

"Ugh, the power converter was damaged during the fight so we need a new one". Hera groaned.

"Well, can't we just buy a new one at a bazaar or something?" Ezra asked.

"You're even stupider than I thought boy," Zeb who was currently leaning against the ship taunted, "the people of Tatooine would swindle you out of anything you have".

"Lay off Zeb, we might as well see what we can find in the bazaar, Sabine how many credits do we have." Kanan ordered.

"About 10 grand." Sabine answered while giving her armor a new paint job."

"We'll just have to make due" Kanan interjected.

"I'll stay behind to watch the ship". Hera stated.

The bazaar was rather shabby but had quite a few rare items even HK-51 parts. The crew split up into two teams Zeb and Sabine, and Ezra with Kanan. While browsing the cartel Sabine saw a jawa selling all kinds of ship parts.

Sabine and Zeb walked up to the jawa and asked "Do you have any power converters for a Vector class smuggling cargo ship?"

"Ethe ma kawa jama!"

"|You are in luck human and thing, last converter in stock!"|the jawa chided excitedly.

"What did you just call me runt?" Zeb growled while reaching for his Bo staff. Sabine calmed Zeb down and said "what he means to say is how much."

"Paca nca corke 50 grodne."

|For the last power converter on planet 50 grand.| the jawa chided on.

"50 grand!" Sabine and Zeb shouted.

"Thisa lesk paca corke on Tatooine, mesa no exek ud puna mer!"

| No other merchant has this kind of power converter, I won't accept a credit less than 50 grand!| the jawa stated.

Sabine and Zeb regrouped with Ezra and Kanan and told them about the jawa's claim. "Well he isn't lying" Kanan stated calmly.

"What do you mean?" Zeb asked.

"It means that we checked all of the vendors and none of them sell the power converter we are looking for." Ezra stated in a matter a fact tone.

"Wait look at that!" Sabine exclaimed. It was a poster stating that a no weapons tournament was being held and the prize was 100,000 unmarked credits.

"Well I'll be a son of a Sarlaac!" Zeb exclaimed.

"It's simple Zeb and I will enter and win the money!" Sabine exclaimed.

"Don't be blinded by your overconfidence Sabine". Kanan stated.

"What other choice do we have?" Ezra asked.

"Fine"! Kanan reluctantly said.

"Yes!" Sabine and Zeb fist bumped.

The stadium looked like a miniature pod racer stadium. At the front of the admittance booth there was Bith handing out tickets and taking bets. "We would like two seats and two spots in the tournament." Kanan requested.

"Soats ary fronkeky, admoka 5 gronde eack"

|The seats to watch are free, admittance is 5 grand each."| The Bith said while putting out his two hands one had the two tickets for the stadium the other hand was flat, meaning he wanted the credits up and front.

"That's all the credits we have!" Ezra exclaimed. Kanan put a reassuring hand on Ezra's shoulder, "We must take the risk young one, and I have faith in Sabine and Zeb." Kanan said. Kanan gave the Bith the last of their credits and went to their seats, Sabine and Zeb followed a Gammorean to the locker rooms.

"Stom mak hew, wate unel yoki nam is calt"

|Stay right here until your name is called| the Gammorean ordered.

When the Gammorean left the loud speaker turned on almost immediately. "Welcome to the 66th annual Pit Fight Tournament!" a cyborg Gran whe spoke basic, announced. The crowd applauded in response. "We all have gathered here to see who is the superior fighter on Tatooine." The Gran continued. "First up we have the menace from Taris Borga!" Once he finished his statement a big muscular Gammorean came out of one of the stadium doors putting both of his arms up like a professional boxer would after a big victory. "And his opponent is the pride of Mandalore Leonidas!"

Sabine perked up at that statement and paid close attention to the screen surveying the arena provided in the locker room. It had been awhile since she met a fellow Mandalorian. Out of an adjacent stadium door came a Mandalorian that appeared to be a little older than Sabine, he wore a suit of Mandalorian armor that had a customized paint job. His helmet was spray painted like a rancor head in a way that it looked like it was eating his visor and the front of the helmet being inside of its mouth. The rest of his armor was spray painted light brown and camouflage. He had a slightly muscular build to him, and he was about 4 inches taller than Sabine. The crowd let out a thunderous applause in response.

"Mesa goin to cut yoki heark uk!"

|I will rip your heart out runt!"| Borga shouted to Leonidas.

"That's what you think you fat pig!" Leonidas countered in a Mandalorian accent.

"Let the battle begin!" the Gran announced.

Borga was furious about Leonidas's fat pig comment and charged in for a punch to his face. Leonidas grabbed his fist mid punch and squeezed it so hard the whole stadium could hear a sharp crack. The crowd grimaced at the sound. "That guy is brutal." Ezra stated. Back on the field Leonidas threw Borga over his head, causing Borga to land flat on his back. Leonidas then performed a left-hook on Borga who was barely standing up. Borga barely recovered and attempted to grab Leonidas but he upper-cut Borga's chin knocking him flat and unconscious.

"And that's a knockout, Leonidas advances to the next round!" The cyborg announced. The crowd gave its usual thunderous applause in reply.

In the locker room Zeb wolf whistled "That kids got spunk." Sabine didn't hear the comment as she was mesmerized by Leonidas's fighting form.

"Hey Sabine." Zeb poked her head to snap her out of her stupor.

"What Zeb?" Sabine asked a little shocked by the sudden statement.

"Someone has a crush!" Zeb teased.

"No way, why would you think that?" Sabine demanded angrily with some red in her cheeks.

"You couldn't take your eyes off of the fight, and look at him he's like a male version of you." Zeb casually explained.

"Buzz off Zeb, and wasn't your name called a few minutes ago?" Sabine countered.

"Oh my, your right!" Zeb rushed to his door just before it opened.

"For this round we have the Annihilator from Nar Shadaa the Blood Rain!" The Gran exclaimed. Out came a bulky man in Krayt slicer armor cracking his knuckles.

"And his opponent the Loner from Lasan Zeb" Zeb walked out waving to the roaring crowd. "Let the battle commence!"

Zeb and Blood Rain charged at one another and exchanged punches and head-butts. Zeb performed a side strike with his arm temporarily stunning Blood Rain, and followed up with a straight headbutt to Blood Rain's head. Blood Rain responded by grabbing Zeb and tossing him across the arena, but Zeb recovered.

"You're tougher than you look worm!" Zeb told Blood Rain. Blood Rain responded by charging forward like a Reek. Zeb tripped him by low sweeping his legs causing him to fall flat on his face. Ezra snickered a bit in his seat. Before Blood Rain could recover Zeb picked him up and threw him head first onto the ground, knocking him out.

"And that will defiantly hurt in the morning as Zeb advances to the next round!" The Gran yelled. The audience was going as wild as a hungry Nexu.

"That's how it's done!" Zeb bragged to Sabine.

"Watch and learn Zeb, and see how a Mandalorian gets the job done." Sabine said.

"I'll be watching you." Zeb said.

"Now for the third round, we have the Terror from Sriluur Valko" A big Weequay wearing mismatched armor pieces came out blowing kisses to the ladies in the audience. "And his opponent, we have another Mandalorian but this one is female, Sabine Wren!" Sabine came out wearing her full body of armor."

"Mesa wiln trea to go easie on ethe"

|I'll try to go easy on you."| The big Weequay taunted.

"You're such a gentleman." Sabine replied sarcastically.

"Let the battle begin" the Gran shouted.

Valko ran towards Sabine in an attempt to grab her, but Sabine cartwheeled out of the way and kicked him in the face, knocking one of his teeth out. Valko attempted to punch Sabine in the stomach, but she did a backflip and kicked his chin in doing so. Now Valko was really mad. He was now attempting to grab Sabine's throat. Sabine then delivered the coup de grace with a roundhouse kick to Valko's rib cage.

"Valko is down and out, wonderful moves Sabine." The Gran announced.

"The odds seem to be going in our favor" Ezra stated.

"I don't know Ezra, that Leonidas fellow is a formidable foe". Kanan replied.

The rounds continued on until semifinals. "Well folks there's been a lot of beat downs tonight and we're nearing the end". Leonidas walked out one door and Zeb walked out the other. "We have Zeb vs Leonidas, both have proven to be formidable warriors but only one shall advance to the finals!"

"You're the only thing left between me and that cash" Zeb said confidently.

"Correction it is you who shall fall and it is I who shall rise." Leonidas replied calmly.

"Let the battle begin!"

Zeb started out by attempting to punch Leonidas in the face, but he quickly moved his head left and right, dodging all of Zeb's strike. Zeb was beginning to become frustrated and tried to low sweep Leonidas, but Leonidas jumped up and kneed Zeb's chin in the process. Zeb charged Leonidas and knocked him down.

"Hah, hah!" Zeb laughed. However his laughter didn't last more than two seconds as Leonidas recovered quickly and punched Zeb's stomach. Zeb's laughter turned into a cringe in the blink of an eye. Leonidas seized the opportunity while Zeb was stunned to deliver a series of well-aimed punches and kicks to all the spots he previously struck. This caused Zeb to nearly faint from the pain, something he rarely felt. Zeb's final move was a desperate attempt to knock down and pile drive Leonidas. Unfortunately for Zeb, Leonidas predicted this and did a front flip over Zeb and used Zeb's back as a springboard to finish his flip. Zeb felt all of his energy leave him and collapsed onto the sandy floor.

"And Zeb is down and out, well folks it has been proven again, brains defeat brawn!" The Gran said. The crowd roared in its usual deafening cheer. Except for Kanan and Ezra who were in disbelief at how Zeb, their greatest fighter, barely landed a hit on the Mandalorian.

"Sabine is our last hope now." Kanan said.

"What happens if she can't defeat Leonidas, master?" Ezra asked.

"Then we'll be stuck on Tatooine for a very long time." Kanan answered.

"Now for the final round of the semifinals, folks!" the Gran declared. "First we have the Grand Champion of Gand, Nium!" As the Gran finished his statement the door opened to reveal a rather slender Gand wearing pieces of armor that appeared to be from battle droids. "And his opponent the Spunky female from Mandalore Sabine Wren!" The Gran finished. "Ready, let the battle commence!"

Sabine made the first strike with a punch to the Gand's throat, but it didn't seem to faze him. "What the?" Sabine said. Nium countered by swiftly performing acrobatics to confuse Sabine, and then struck her ribs with a powerful jump kick. While Sabine was stunned Nium kneed her in the chin knocking Sabine down but not out. Sabine gave Nium a taste of his own medicine by gracefully flipping over him back and forth. Nium was getting tired from his constant attempts to hit Sabine, the latter seized the chance and punched his breathing mask. The punch compromised the Gand's mask and he began to panic in an attempt to fix it. While he was in turmoil Sabine finished him off with a quick karate chop to his head.

"With some brutal battle tactics Sabine has advanced into the finals!" the Gran exclaimed as a Rodian and a Nikto came out and put Nium on a stretcher to fix his mask.

"Why would Sabine do something like that?" Ezra thought out loud.

"Because she is worried about us being stranded here if she loses this tournament." Kanan explained.

"Now the moment we've all been waiting for!" The Gran announced excitedly. "We have our two finalists, both Mandalorians but only one will claim the cash!" The Gran continued. Leonidas and Sabine stepped out onto the arena. "Tensions are as high as the bets have been going in this tournament folks, now let the final battle of the 66th annual Pit Fighter tournament begin!" the Gran shouted at the top of his lungs.

Leonidas and Sabine charged at one another. Sabine attempted to low sweep Leonidas, but Leonidas grabbed her leg and swung her across the field. Sabine recovered and countered rather quickly. Sabine punched Leonidas in the helmet knocking him down but not out. Leonidas performed a low sweep on Sabine and attempted to pile drive her while she was down but Sabine kicked Leonidas' chest while he was in the air causing him to fall back, but he sprung right back up as if nothing happened. Leonidas then charged Sabine and knocked her back a few feet. Sabine flipped over Leonidas and kicked his back but failed to knock him down in doing so. Sabine was really starting to sweat and Leonidas didn't look like he was even tired.

"You are a formidable foe Sabine Wren, but you are no match for me." Leonidas stated.

"I beg to differ" Sabine yelled as she attempted to catch him in a scissor kick lock, but it backfired as Leonidas grabbed both of her legs and twisted them. Leonidas had sprung her legs! Sabine was now on her knees trying desperately to stand up but the agonizing pain from her sprung legs kept her where she was, at the mercy of Leonidas. Leonidas finished her off with a flawless roundhouse kick to her head knocking off her helmet in the process.

"And Sabine is down and out, the winner of the 100,000 credits is Leonidas!" Everyone except Kanan and Ezra were cheering for the victor. "We lost." Kanan said with a hint of sorrow in his voice. When the medics came out to retrieve Sabine, Leonidas in a surprise move picked Sabine up bridal style and placed her on the stretcher. Leonidas then went up to the Gran who gave him a case. Leonidas opened the case to see rows of gold credits.

"I thank you sir for this bounty, glory to Mandalore!" Leonidas shouted to the crowd, who responded with an applause. Leonidas then left off to the market.

Meanwhile in the infirmary…..

"I'm sorry I failed you" Sabine said mournfully.

"It's not your fault Sabine, that Leonidas is tough" Kanan comforted.

"Yeah even Zeb couldn't defeat him" Ezra said.

"Hey I almost had him!" a Zeb with head bandages protested.

"Yeah right you hardly landed a blow on him." Ezra said.

"Knock it off you two!" Kanan barked.

"What do we do now?" Sabine asked.

"We were lucky that there was a consolation prize of 5,000 credits for you winning second place." Kanan answered.

"We might as well search the bazaar to see if anyone would be willing to sell it for 5,000 credits" Zeb suggested. Seeing no alternative the group went off to the bazaar.

The bazaar was met with no success in finding the proper power converter for the Ghost. They decided to split up once more, but this time each team consisted of only one person. Sabine spent an hour trying to find the converter but no dice, until she saw Leonidas purchasing a droid shield generator from a vendor with a droid holding a sniper rifle standing next to him. Sabine also took note that he didn't have his helmet on. Leonidas had short blond hair and deep blue eyes, he also had a scar going across his face and a small tattoo of the Mandalorian symbol was on his neck. "Well if it isn't Sabine Wren." A voice came.

Sabine snapped out of her trance and saw that the voice belonged to Leonidas who was now standing right in front of her with his droid standing next to him. "Sorry for spying." Sabine said.

"Apology accepted." Leonidas said in a gentleman manner.

"Master you know this meatbag?" the droid asked.

"For the last time HK-51 stop calling everyone meatbags." Leonidas ordered sternly.

"Forgive my droid Sabine it was a privilege to face you in the finals." Leonidas said while extending his hand.

Sabine shook it and asked "What were you purchasing from that vendor?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but I was purchasing an HK-51 shield generator for 25k." Leonidas explained.

"25k!?" Sabine exclaimed.

"HK parts are hard to come by, I was shocked that the Ortolan sold it to me that cheap."

"Is it worth it?" Sabine asked now rather curious about Leonidas and his droid.

"Oh it's worth it, an HK unit is far superior to any astromech or assassin droid, and it can kill a Jedi in the blink of an eye." Leonidas continued now fully absorbed into the conversation. Sabine cringed a bit at the killing Jedi part of his explanation.

"I take it that you are friends with a Jedi?" Leonidas asked.

"How did you know?" Sabine asked.

"The expression on your face said it all." Leonidas explained.

The two Mandalorian warriors enjoyed their conversation, and for a moment, forgot that their galaxy was enslaved by an evil Empire. Sabine failed to notice how much time had passed since their conversation begun and was interrupted by her comlink went off.

"Sabine," Kanan's voice rang out of the comlink," where are you, we were supposed to regroup an hour ago?"

"I'm on my way" Sabine said into the comlink.

"I'm sorry but I have to leave" Sabine sadly stated.

"May I ask one more question?" Leonidas asked.

"Fire away." Sabine said.

"What is a pretty flower like you doing on a planet like this?" Sabine was taken aback by his compliment but answered his question.

"Our power converter for the engine was damaged by an Imperial TIE fighter," Sabine explained," and we need a new one but it costs 50K."

"I'll pay for it on one condition." Leonidas said. Sabine was excited on the inside.

"What is your condition?" She asked.

"That I can join your crew and fight those buckethead imperials."

**Read, Review, Enjoy! I need reviews to keep me going so if you read this please post a positive review telling me what you think. Thanks!**

**Please let me know what you think.**

**A/U: I'll update as soon as possible once I reach 10 reviews, because I need to know if people want to see this story continue. Glory to Mandalore!**

**To those of you who have reviewed and have given this story a chance God bless you all.**


	2. Chapter 2

The Mandalorian Rebel

Chapter 2

**First off, I would like to thank you kind reviewers for giving me the courage to continue this story. God bless you all, and here's your reward.**

**Disclaimer: Star Wars is property of Disney all I own are my OCs Leonidas, Maximus, Xerxes, and Jeremiah.**

"So then my friend Maximus and I stuffed the Womp Rat into his father's pillow to see how he would react, and it didn't go well." Leonidas told Sabine while they were walking through the bazaar with HK-51 in tow and their helmets clipped to their belts. Sabine giggled at his story.

"And then what happened?" Sabine asked.

"We took solace in the fact that we had the best barbecued Womp Rat ever that night." Sabine then broke out into a laugh.

"You have a beautiful laugh Sabine." Leonidas complimented.

"Thanks Leonidas." Sabine replied with a blush on her face. Sabine had decided to take him to the group to make his offer to them so that they could decide.

"So tell me about your crew." Leonidas said.

"Well we have a Twi'lek, a Lasat, a Jedi and a boy who is force sensitive." Sabine answered, but left their names out for safety.

"Is your Lasat friend named Zeb by any chance?" Leonidas asked.

"Yes, and he didn't appreciate you humiliating him in the arena." Sabine answered.

"Hey it's not my fault he was cocky." Leonidas defended.

"I suppose so." Sabine replied with a chuckle.

"So do you have a boyfriend?" Leonidas asked.

"No I don't, why do you ask?" Sabine answered.

"No reason." Leonidas said.

"Here we are." Sabine announced when they arrived at the cantina.

When they entered it was your average bar, aliens getting drunk and playing holochess. Just as the two Mandalorians were about to go to the Ghost crew's table, the Trandoshan bouncer intervened.

"Nik druds!"

|"No droids!"|, the Trandoshan barked referring to HK-51. The HK unit responded by shooting the Trandoshan with his sniper rifle, causing him to fall lifelessly to the ground. Everyone's eyes were on the droid.

"Any other meatbags opposed to my presence here!" HK-51 asked the patrons. Everyone just went back to what they were doing and the Biths went back to playing their instruments. Leonidas pinched the bridge of his nose.

"He's a little sensitive." Leonidas whispered to Sabine who made a personal note not to get on the droid's bad side. After everything resumed Sabine and Leonidas proceeded to their table.

"Hey Sabine who's your boyfriend?" Zeb asked while chewing his roasted Bantha. Leonidas sat down next to Sabine and across from Kanan, and put his helmet on the table which answered Zeb's question.

"Leonidas, come to brag?" Ezra asked with frustration in his voice.

"Actually I've come to make a proposal boy and show some respect." Leonidas answered with no anger in his voice.

"What kind of proposal?" Kanan asked.

"It's simple, if you let me join your group here to fight the Empire than I'll pay for the power converter that you are unable to obtain." Leonidas answered being his normal cool self. Kanan stroked his chin thinking about the offer.

"First let's get to know one another before we make any deals."

"Fair enough, let's start with your names, I already know Zeb and Sabine from the tournament." Leonidas stated.

"Fine, I'm Kanan Jarrus and this is Ezra Bridger." Kanan answered.

"Leonidas Akaan of Clan Akaan." Leonidas answered while extending his hand to Kanan, who shook it.

"Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself Leonidas.", Kanan stated.

"Such as?" Leonidas asked.

"About your past." Ezra answered. Leonidas thought a moment and decided to tell them.

"Alright get comfortable because my past is a long one." The Ghost crew complied and listened.

"Clan Akaan wasn't your average Mandalorian clan, we trained our young from the day they are able to walk. When I took my first steps at the age of two my father, Xerxes Akaan, performed a low sweep on me, for my training had begun. If I cried I would go without food for the night, but as a Mandalorian I didn't complain. My father was the clan's leader so he had high expectations for me, and I made sure I exceeded his expectations. I was trained at the age of six in combat, I was beat and I was forced to fight foes far larger then myself and failure wasn't an option. I was trained in the use of electrostaffs, sniper rifles, WESTAR-35 pistols, shuttle piloting, and hand to hand combat. When I turned seven I befriended Maximus Oberus, the son of a fellow Mandalorian Clan Leader, Jeremiah Oberus. We became fast friends and trained together many times to the point of becoming blood brothers. The training we were put through taught us to never shed a tear or flinch to pain, we became warriors!

When I turned nine, Maximus and I were put through the survival trial. We were taken to the mountains of Alderaan given only two vibroknives to use, the test was to see if we could survive the cold mountains for three months. Maximus and I hunted wild Nerf for food and killed wild Manka cats for warmth and fur for a tent. The mountains of Alderaan were also a common place for pirates to congregate, we learned that the hard way when we ran into a gang of Anomid pirates who attempted to pillage our camp. We fought back with full force against twelve foes that were twice our size. The Anomid underestimated Maximus and I's teamwork and we took them down one at a time and looted their corpses for supplies. After our encounter with the pirates Maximus and I tracked down their cargo ship that they used to land in the mountains and overpowered the pilots easily. The cargo was a large amount of spice, so Maximus and I burned the spice and used the crates that contained the spice to establish a perimeter around our camp. Our time there was fun for the two of us as we learned to trust one another and learned more about each other. When our trial was over and the clan retrieved us we were rewarded with one electrostaff for each of us to use for our future trials.

The final trial brought us to Tatooine near a Tusken Raider camp on a hill. The trial required us to inject ourselves with a deadly venom that would kill us if it reached our brain and the only cure was in the hands of Tusken Shamans atop the hill and they weren't going to give it to us if we asked nicely. This was all a test to see if we were worthy of the title Mandalorian. Thankfully Maximus and I passed, sadly many others didn't as they succumbed to either the poison or sniper fire from the Tuskens. It was a sad day for some but for my friend and me it was a night for celebration.

A few months later I had to find the component to build the armor that I wear now, and that compound was Mandalorian durasteel and it could only be found in the mines of Concordia which are inhabited by K'lorr slugs; giant, vicious, and very territorial, these slugs are formidable foes. When I began my search for the special durasteel I came across K'lorr burrowers who weren't that happy with my being there and attacked. All I had was my electrostaff to fight them off, and K'lorr slugs are very resilient to heat. After enough strikes I manages to kill them and push further into the mine. Unfortunately for me, the Mandalorian durasteel deposit was within the domain of a K'lorr matriarch. K'lorr matriarchs are very rare and fewer were even killed but I took it head on. I almost lost my life that day, luckily I managed to throw my electrostaff down its throat which cooked it from the inside out. I took its teeth as a trophy and retrieved the durasteel to make my armor.

When I turned sixteen I had to infiltrate an imperial compound on one of our moons with Maximus as my partner. Maximus had also obtained his armor which he customized to make him look like a Reek, he even had the tusks of a Reek to attach to the sides of his helmet! We hadn't anticipated that the Emperor's Shadow Guard would be there. The Shadow Guard aren't your average warriors, rumor has it that they were once Jedi Knights whom the Emperor had kept alive and tortured to the point of being unable to speak. Maximus and I were armed with Cortosis staffs so we weren't your average Mandalorian either, all and all it was a fair fight. Maximus and I disposed of the stormtroopers and officers with ease but when the Shadow Guard stepped up to fight we had to up our game. Maximus and I were a legendary team back on Mandalore and have never lost a tag team fight, and these Shadow Guards were no different. They put up an incredible fight but we outmaneuvered them. Once we obtained the imperial data file, containing all of the locations of major deposits of Mandalorian durasteel we returned with it and we received the title "Marauders of Mandalore".

It was a night of fine meat and Cassius tea, but alas it was not meant to last. The Empire had sent the Inquisitor and his elite royal guard to dispose of clans Akaan and Oberus. I witnessed the clan plunge into pandemonium as our warriors fought the guards and my father combat the Inquisitor. My father had ordered everyone to scatter and flee. Everyone but Maximus and I reluctantly followed his orders. My father and Jeremiah Oberus combated the Inquisitor with their Darksaber and Cortosis vibrosword of Mandalore respectively. They put up a good fight but were no match for the Inquisitor. Our fathers gave us their weapons and told us we were our clans future, before brutally injuring the Sith and killing many elite guards. The Inquisitor killed them both and Maximus fled as instructed. I, however wanted revenge and attempted to kill the Inquisitor with my father's Darksaber. I was overconfident, and the Inquisitor beat me within an inch of my life and gave me the scar I have on my face, luckily Maximus came back and used a sonic detonator to stun the Inquisitor and helped me get to safety. Maximus and I were separated when we fled in our fathers' personnel ships. When I jumped to the safety of hyperspace, I mourned for my father's death but stayed strong just like he would've wanted me to. When I searched his footlocker I found blueprints for HK-51 and a note that my father left for me. It told me that building this HK-51 unit was my final trial to becoming the next clan leader, and that he was proud of me and I became even better then he wanted me to be. It took me a whole year to find all of HK-51's components and I was seventeen by the time I finished him, but he is the only memory I have of my father. Later I came here to collect my bearings by winning the tournament, and now here we are." Leonidas finished with a tear in his eye.

Everyone was speechless about Leonidas' past and enlightened as to why he hates the Empire. His past put theirs to shame, and couldn't help but feel a little more sympathetic towards Leonidas. Sabine's respect towards Leonidas had doubled after hearing his story and also was crying a little.

"That is a very interesting past." Kanan said after a few minutes of silence.

"Thank you." Leonidas said.

"Uh kid?" Zeb asked Leonidas.

"Yes Zeb?"

"It was both fun and a privilege fighting you in the tournament and you have earned my respect." Zeb said awkwardly. Everyone except Leonidas was gaping, did Zeb just respect someone who beat him?

"Thanks Zeb I share the feeling." Leonidas replied while gesturing to his fist for a fist bump which Zeb accepted.

"Alright Leonidas I've decided to allow you to join our group." Kanan said.

"You won't regret this!" Leonidas exclaimed. No one objected to the deal.

"But first tell me about your past." Leonidas told Kanan. Kanan explained the events from when he joined the order to the events of order 66.

Leonidas whistled, "It seems like we have common pasts." Kanan nodded before the team got up and paid another visit to the jawa.

The jawa was sorting out his profits and putting parts on sale, he kept up the cycle until Leonidas and Sabine walked up to his stand. Zeb, Kanan, and Ezra were off to secure transport to the Ghost.

"Ah Leonidas mesa bek on yousa dui ze tornt, ar yousa and yoki gurlfreund interu in binl?"

|"Ah Leonidas, I bet on you during the tournament, are you and your girlfriend interested in buying?"|the jawa asked in his usual excited tone.

"She's not my girlfriend, but yes we are interested in buying." Leonidas explained.

"We are here for what I came for earlier." Sabine said.

"Do yousa hak 50k credits?"

|"Do you have 50k credits?"|the jawa asked.

"Yes we do." Leonidas said while placing a case full of credits in front of the jawa.

The jawa was mesmerized by the amounts of credits and said, "Plesir doi buisnez with yousa."

|"Pleasure doing business with you."|

HK-51 lifted the power converter with ease and followed his master and Sabine. The droid chuckled slightly to himself; his master found a girlfriend! When the assassin droid and the two Mandalorians got to a taxi procured by Zeb, Ezra, and Kanan, they were off to regroup with Hera and Chopper.

When they arrived at the Ghost they were greeted by Hera. "Thank goodness you made it, and who are they?" Hera asked gesturing towards Leonidas and HK-51.

"Leonidas Akaan and this is HK-51." Leonidas introduced while extending his hand which Hera shook.

"Hera Syndulla and this is Chopper." Hera said.

"It's been awhile since I met a non meatbag, pity it's an inferior astromech droid." HK-51 said to Chopper. Chopper beeped angrily at him which got all eyes turned on them.

"What can I do you ask?" HK-51 asked Chopper who beeped again in affirmative.

"I'm programmed in over 50 forms of slaughter, I'm an expert sniper, I can understand any language, I have a stealth generator, I know every weak spot on every life form and droid, I'm equipped with a shield generator that can resist a rocket, and I have a holographic disguise module, what can you do?" HK-51 answered.

Chopper didn't answer and entered the Ghost with his head hung low. The crew couldn't contain a laugh at how Chopper was put in his place by HK-51. "You know droid you're alright." Zeb told HK-51.

"That astromech needed to get knocked down a peg or two." HK-51 replied.

Once everyone calmed down Hera asked,"So what are you doing here Leonidas?"

"I'm joining your crew, as I paid for that power converter." Leonidas explained.

"How?" Hera asked. Kanan explained the events of the Pit Fighter Tournament.

"I see, well welcome aboard Leonidas!" Hera said happily.

"Thanks." Leonidas said. Sabine was really happy that Leonidas would come with and secretly thought that the TIE fighter damaging their power converter was the best thing that ever happened to her. Little did Sabine know was that Leonidas thought the exact same thing.

**And that's a rap, thank you awesome reviewers, without you I would never be able to make this chapter, once I reach 25 reviews mostly from different people, I need reviews from a variety of people not just one. I'll update as soon as I can. Glory to Mandalore.**

**A/N: Feel free to make a Sabine x OC fanfiction that's a trend I'm trying to start. God Bless. Tell your friends about my story and make one of your own all it takes is the will of a single person to make a great fanfiction.**

**A/N: To answer your question guest yes Leonidas and Sabine will go on a date in one of my later chapters when they discover that their feelings for each other have gone beyond friendship.**

**Read, review, and enjoy.**

**No Flames, only positive reviews, and please tell me what you liked about the chapters but feel free to ask me questions.**


	3. Chapter 3

The Mandalorian Rebel

Chapter 3

**To all you awesome reviewers out there, I would like you to know you are the reason I write, to inspire others to write and as the motto for fanfiction goes "Unleash your imagination!" I have a group called Mandalorian Love if you have a story that involves a Mandalorian pairing than join because so far my group is empty. For your inspiring reviews, I give you the long chapter three!**

**Disclaimer: Star Wars belongs to Disney all I own is my OC Leonidas.**

"Welcome to the Ghost Leonidas, it's not much but it's reliable." Hera exclaimed as the crew entered the Ghost. "I believe you, this ship has been modified for battle capabilities." Leonidas said.

"Sabine why don't you give Leonidas and HK-51 the tour, while Zeb, Ezra, Hera, and I re-install the power converter." Kanan said. "Alright follow me you two." Sabine said. The HK unit and Mandalorian complied.

"This ladder leads to the top and bottom turrets, so you might need to man one if the Empire finds us." Sabine said while they walked through the Ghost. "Up here is the cockpit, normally only Hera and Chopper use it, but sometimes it's all hands on deck for some missions." Sabine continued.

"This room is used to unwind a bit after a mission." Sabine said while pointing to the room with tons of graffiti of anti-stormtrooper emblems, Cad Bane, Embo, and symbols of a starbird on its walls. "I take it this graffiti is your handiwork Sabine." Leonidas mused.

"How did you know?" Sabine asked. "One look at that colorful armor of yours tells me you have an artistic flair." Leonidas explained.

After Sabine was done giving them the initial tour and showing HK-51 where he could power down and recharge Leonidas had a question, "So where do I sleep?" Sabine scolded herself for not thinking of that.

"I don't know" Sabine said, "We'll have to talk to Hera."

"Then let's go!" Leonidas exclaimed while ironically leading Sabine to the engine room with HK-51 in tow, showing that he already knew the ship like the back of his hand. When they arrived at the engine room Hera had her safety goggles on with Chopper welding some components together with his welding torch.

"Excuse me Hera?" Sabine asked. "What can I do for you Sabine?" Hera asked. "We forgot to think about where Leonidas would sleep, do we have any spare rooms?" Sabine said. Hera thought for a moment before stating, "I'm sorry Sabine but it looks like Leonidas will have to bunk in your room from now on, because yours is the only room that has a spare bunk."

"O.K thanks Hera" Sabine said hiding the excitement in her voice. Leonidas was there and heard the arrangement and silently fist bumped the air. But before they left Leonidas made an offer, "You seem to be having a hard time installing the converter Hera, perhaps HK-51 could lend a hand."

"Are you sure that's safe?" Hera asked. "Of course", HK-51 chimed in, "I'm programmed with over 150 tools for your mechanical needs!" Chopper wasn't that thrilled about it, but Hera seemed happy with the idea. "O.K he can help, thanks for your droid's assistance Leonidas" Hera thanked the Mandalorian. "No need to thank me, it's the least I can do for allowing me to join your crew, and HK-51 lower slaughter programs to level one." "Understood master, loading slaughter program level one." HK-51 complied obediently.

When he saw Sabine's room it was just as he expected, posters and graffiti littered the walls, and cans of spray paint were all over the floor. "Sorry for the mess." Sabine said meekly. "No problem, besides I can clean up my end no problem." Leonidas exclaimed in a cheerful tone.

Sabine decided to help Leonidas clean up the room. They even made a game out of it, Leonidas would pass a piece of garbage to Sabine who in turn kicks it in midair into the trashcan in the corner. They each had some laughs and fun during the game, in fact they were so into the game that they cleaned the whole room!

"Whoa, time flies when you are having fun." Leonidas said with a smile on his face. Sabine returned the smile and the two Mandalorians just looked into each other's eyes in complete silence, until Leonidas broke the ice. "Let's get to unpacking my things." Leonidas said while he took a supply duffel bag off of his back. Sabine decided to help him with unpacking as well.

Leonidas's duffle bag contained undershirts, camouflage jeans, combat boots, a razor to keep his hair in a crewcut, spare ammo packs, two WESTAR-35 blaster pistols, some spray paint, and the K'lorr matriarch teeth that he mentioned. Leonidas made his bunk a little more festive by spray painting the walls with the Mandalorian symbol and the words: Clan Akaan.

The Mandalorians sat on Leonidas's bunk for a while to rest after all the redecorating they did to the room. "I'm sorry about your father, Leonidas." Sabine said while putting a comforting hand on his armored shoulder.

"Thanks Sabine, besides Maximus, you are the only friend I ever had." Leonidas said. "Leonidas, you are the only friend I have that was outside of the crew, but now you are a part of it and you are my friend." Sabine stated.

"If you don't mind me asking, was your father a good man?" Sabine asked.

"He was Sabine, I just didn't see it until I was older that he was training me to fight back when things get tough, he showed that he loved and respected me when he gave me the Darksaber of Clan Akaan." Leonidas said while unclipping what appeared to be a sword hilt from his belt.

Leonidas activated it and a black blade emerged from the hilt. Leonidas then demonstrated some very fast moves and techniques with the Darksaber in the middle of the room. "Impressive", Sabine stated, "you could give Kanan a run for his money with those moves." "I don't know about that." Leonidas said with a blush on his face.

"Leonidas may I ask you something." Sabine asked.

"Fire away." Leonidas said using Sabine's line back on Tatooine.

"You defeated the competitors in the tournament, including Zeb and myself with relative ease, I want to fight like you do, so could you train me in the ways of Clan Akaan?" Leonidas thought for a moment before saying, "Alright, but I must warn you the way of Clan Akaan is not for the weak in mind, spirit, or heart."

"I know but I still want you to train me" Sabine pleaded. "Let's head off to the ships training room, I'm sure Kanan won't mind if we borrow it." Leonidas said.

In the training room Leonidas had some equipment with him, jogun fruits, a blindfold, a metal pole, and ten training probes. "The first trial of Clan Akaan is to be fluent with your opponent's motions." Leonidas explained while putting on the blindfold.

"What does that mean?" Sabine asked. "Let me demonstrate, try to hit me." Leonidas ordered. Sabine complied by aiming a roundhouse kick at Leonidas's head. Leonidas bent backwards with perfect balance to dodge the attack. Sabine attempted to hit Leonidas's chest but he blocked each one easily. Sabine became frustrated and attempted to charge Leonidas but he pulled the same move he used to defeat Zeb during the tournament and got the same results.

"In short the key is to see with your hearing and remain perfectly calm." Leonidas said while helping Sabine up and handing her the blindfold. "You make it look so easy." Sabine said while putting her blindfold on.

"It wasn't always that way, heck I broke a few ribs during my training with my father", Leonidas explained, "Now calm yourself Sabine, listen to the air as it breaks with my strikes." Sabine tried to listen and heard the wind break but didn't react fast enough and was knocked down by Leonidas's uppercut to her chin. Sabine lost her cool and couldn't even hear Leonidas's volley of karate chops which sent her to floor.

"Sabine you have tons of potential but you need to stay calm and trust yourself, and if you can't trust yourself than the enemy will exploit that flaw." Leonidas told Sabine. She complied and took a deep breath and calmed down by thinking of the open fields on Alderaan that she visited as a young girl, the trip down memory lane helped her feel a sense of calm like Leonidas displayed all the time.

She then easily dodge Leonidas's left-hook and jumped over him when he attempted a low sweep. Leonidas than picked her up and tossed her across the room, but like a Manka cat falling off an edge she landed gracefully on her feet. "Well done Sabine, you've tapped into the defensive side of your hearing senses, very impressive." Leonidas complimented. "Thanks, I aim to please." Sabine said with a confident smile. "We'll see if you still feel that way after this next trial."

The two Mandalorians were now both wearing white undershirts, camouflage jeans, and combat boots. "The second trial of Clan Akaan is mastering your hand eye coordination", Leonidas explained while taking out his training droids, "back with my clan we used assassin droids for blaster blocking training, but for you I can make an elementary version, these probes are set to the lowest energy bolt levels but they will sting like a swarm of Collicoids." Leonidas activated his probes and took out his metal pole and got in a defensive stance.

The ten probes began to shoot at Leonidas but he twirled his pole to block all of them and used his pole to fling him into the air. While airborne, Leonidas kicked one of the probes into the wall which deactivated it in the process. Leonidas rolled over to his pole and hit another probe that went to low into another. Leonidas was like a ninja dodging and striking the probes. Once all the probes were down and out he handed Sabine the pole. "I'll start you off with five probes." Leonidas said to Sabine who nodded in affirmative.

Sabine didn't do as well as Leonidas did. The probes fired at her from the front but she couldn't predict where they would aim, high, low, or middle. This caused her quite the sting as she couldn't block them all. She attempted to attack one but another fired an intercepting blast at her that she failed to dodge. She did manage to swat one down but succumbed to the others. Leonidas deactivated the probes and helped Sabine up.

"You need to have your senses of coordination sharpened, and trust me not everyone survived this trial in my clan." Leonidas said.

"I can do this I just need some pointers." Sabine said.

"Alright the key is whenever there is more than one foe then they will most likely have a formation of defense and offense, the key is to identify and attack the weaknesses of the formation, for example formation that the probes used on you was known as the Killik swarm, they attack from all sides but aren't very accurate, you could have exploited that inaccuracy by quickly moving around to confuse them and the probes would've fallen victim to friendly fire." Leonidas explained. Sabine got ready and then Leonidas activated the drones.

This time around Sabine did better. She saw that the drones were attempting to gang up on her in a tight formation. Sabine exploited this by swiftly dodging their laser clusters and getting at an angle so when she deflected their blaster fire it took out the outermost probe of the cluster and knocked another one down with the poll. The remaining three probes' cluster wasn't as threatening as before, and Sabine took them down with relative ease. Leonidas clapped, "Very good, we'll graduate you to ten probes later in your training, now for part two of trial two."

"How am I doing so far?" Sabine asked. "Just as well as I did on my first day of training which is incredible, albeit I was a little younger." Leonidas stated. "Thanks, I guess." Sabine said. This made the two Mandos laugh for a while, for some reason they found that statement funny. "Ah, it's good to laugh." Leonidas said.

"So what's the second part of the trial?" Sabine asked. "This involves less pain more aim." Leonidas instructed while handing Sabine a jogun fruit and a vibroknife. He also had the fruit and dagger. "Now toss the jogun fruit across the room a few meters away from me." Leonidas ordered and Sabine complied.

Leonidas threw his knife at the fruit and impaled it on the wall.

Sabine wolf whistled, "Impressive."

"Thank you." Leonidas replied.

Sabine attempted to throw her vibroknife at the jogun fruit but missed. After a few more tries the ship had a lot more dents in its wall and a lot of jogun fruits on the ground. "Try to throw where it is going to be, this is just like when you practiced with those probes." Leonidas advised. Sabine complied and managed to hit the fruit, but barely. "Nice job, but your focus needs a little more work." Leonidas said. "Alright." Sabine said.

"The third trial of Clan Akaan for some, is a rather easy one, balance." Leonidas said.

"Balancing on a board or some different kind of balance?" Sabine asked.

"You must balance yourself by knowing your own limits and when and when not to fight, some Mandalorians would rather die than run away from a fight, this trial is easy physically but for some, it can be a challenge mentally, for our pride can be our demise." Leonidas explained.

"Seems rather easy." Sabine said.

"Is that so?" Leonidas asked, "Tell me, have you ever met the Inquisitor?"

"Yes."

"And did you try to fight him?"

"Yes."

"And how did that turn out?"

"If Kanan hadn't been there I would've lost my life."

"And why did you face him?"

"Because I thought I could take him." Sabine said while looking down.

"See the reason why you thought you could take him was because you let your pride turn you overconfident, the ability to know that we can't beat a foe may seem small but it makes a difference." Leonidas finished.

"I see" Sabine said. "This trial will be one for you to face on the battle field not aboard this ship, the time will come when you can control your pride." Leonidas told Sabine while placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. Sabine began to sniffle a little.

"What's wrong Sabine?" Leonidas asked.

"I can't believe I saw myself as a Mandalorian, but you are a true Mandalorian and I can't even pass the trials that you faced when you were much younger and at five times the difficulty!" Sabine cried.

"There, there Sabine, you are a true Mandalorian, the moment I first saw you fight Valko back on Tatooine I knew that you had Mandalorian blood in your veins, Clan Akaan was one of the advanced Mandalorian clans, and I will train you until you reach Akaan status." Leonidas comforted her with soothing words. In a surprise move Sabine hugged him, which surprised him but he hugged her back.

"Thanks Leonidas." Sabine said with no more tears in her eyes.

"You are welcome Sabine Wren" Leonidas said neither releasing from the warm embrace. "She looks so small in my arms." Leonidas thought. He felt a need to protect her, and a feeling that he'd never felt before that he couldn't identify.

"Am I interrupting something?" Ezra asked standing by the training room's entrance. The two Mandos released from the hug with blushes on their faces.

"No, what are you doing here Ezra?" Leonidas asked.

"Just here to inform you that Hera is done with the power converter and that she thanks you for HK-51's assistance." Ezra said. "Where is he?" Leonidas asked. "He's currently recharging." Ezra answered.

Sabine felt her stomach growl, no doubt from all the sparring she had done with Leonidas. Ezra heard the stomach growl and said, "I'll ask Hera to whip us something up." "Nonsense", Leonidas interjected, "I'll cook dinner for the crew, and I'll whip you up a Mandalorian delicacy that will send your taste buds on a journey."

"O.K." Ezra said before leaving to tell Hera of who would be cooking tonight.

Leonidas made his way to the ship's kitchen he took out a music player and some ear-buds and sung along to a bit of his favorite song. "Mai ah hee, Mai ah hoo, Mai ah ha, Mai ah ha ha!" Leonidas started to take out some tortillas from his duffle bag and place them on the ship's mini stove.

He then took out tons of vegetables that smelled rather spicy and a little seasoned Nerf meat. Leonidas cooked all the vegetables with the meat thoroughly so the blend was just right. He threw in some spices and seasoning to spice up the flavor. Once the vegetables were done he carefully laid a thin paste maid of jalapeno, and peppers onto the tortillas before laying the vegetables onto them. He took a nice whiff of the burritos' smell, it smelled so spicy that you would cry if you weren't strong.

"Ah my culinary achievement." Leonidas said to himself.

Meanwhile in the rec room everyone was waiting for Leonidas to finish cooking dinner. "So what were you doing with Leonidas, Sabine?" Hera asked.

"I asked him to train me in the ways of Clan Akaan, and he agreed." Sabine answered.

"Great, just what I need, another Mandalorian who can make my fighting seem like that of a jawa's." Zeb said. The entire crew laughed at Zeb's comment.

"So I saw you two hugging what was up with that?" Ezra asked.

"He was comforting me in my time of self-doubt, but it was I who hugged him." Sabine explained.

"Why?" Kanan asked.

"I don't know, something inside me just told me to." Sabine answered.

Before the discussion could continue Leonidas came out balancing six plates on his arms, and something that looked like a burrito was on them. He served Sabine first, "For you milady." Leonidas said to Sabine who thanked him for the mysterious food.

He then served Hera, Kanan, Zeb, and Ezra in that order.

"To the Rebellion!" Leonidas announced. "To the Rebellion!" the crew repeated back. Once Zeb ate his burrito he felt as though there was a party in his mouth and everyone was being incinerated!

"Water, Water!" Zeb exclaimed before taking a big drink from his canteen of water but even that wasn't enough. Everyone else except for Sabine and Leonidas were trying desperately to get the spicy taste out of their mouths. The two Mandos found the burrito to be delectable, and savored its spicy flavor.

"What did you feed us?" Ezra demanded.

"Tiingilar, the spiciest Mandalorian dish ever, they say that only true warriors can handle, and for those who can it's actually delicious." Leonidas explained. Sabine giggled at the situation.

"Then why did you feed it to us?" Hera asked.

"Because I thought you could handle it, I ate my first Tiingilar at the age of two and I loved it." Leonidas explained casually.

"We weren't raised by a clan of Mandalorian warlords!" Zeb yelled.

"Alright, Alright, I'll make you some Bilerat stew!" Leonidas exclaimed.

"Will it set our mouths on fire?" Zeb asked.

"Heck no, it's actually a rather nutritious soup made by nomad Mandalorians," Leonidas said, "Sabine care to help me?"

"Gladly!" Sabine said with enthusiasm evident in her voice.

The two Mandos were chopping up vegetables into a thin paste together while listening to Leonidas's favorite song. Sabine loved Leonidas's favorite song and it quickly became one of her favorites as well. They threw all of the vegetable paste into a pot full of water. The two Mandalorians put the finishing touches on what appeared to be a pot of sewage. They put it into four separate bowls for the crew and took to the rec room. The crew didn't like the smell of the Bilerat stew, and were immediately nervous about eating it.

Leonidas seeing this said, "You know for a bunch of brave and heroic rebels you sure are cowards for trying new foods."

"You Mandalorians have a sick taste in food!" Zeb yelled at them.

The Mandos just chuckled and told them to eat. Kanan was the first to try it and it didn't taste half bad. "This is pretty good." Kanan told the others. The rest of the crew tasted it and actually enjoyed it. After they were done with dinner they thanked Leonidas and Sabine for the meal.

"I'll set coordinates for Lothal, the ISB have set up a monitoring station there and are ransacking the civilians' homes for any sign of rebellion, and we should be there in twelve hours, in the meantime rest up we got a big day ahead of us." Hera reported. Everyone went to their bunks and the two Mandalorians got into their sleepwear which was just an undershirt and camouflage jeans.

"Goodnight Sabine." Leonidas said. "Goodnight Leonidas." Sabine said. The Mandos went on to having dreams of combat and fighting stormtroopers.

**And that's a rap, thank you all for your continued support and encouragement. God Bless. Once I reach 35 reviews then I'll update as soon as I can. And if any of you can guess what Leonidas's favorite song is in one of your reviews before I upload chapter six, then you get a virtual cookie. Glory to Mandalore!**

**A/N: I would like to thank you all for your support once more, and I would also like to see someone step up to the plate and make a Sabine x OC fanfiction as well. Everyone has potential to be a great author you just need to seek it.**

**GrimReaper their most certainly will not be any lemons in my story, I'm Christian and I'm disgusted by Lemons, and I hope that you don't read any stories of that nature.**

**If anyone is interested in Hera x Kanan, then vote in the review section along with your opinion of the story before I post chapter 5, and I'll tally the votes to see if you guys want me to throw it in.**

**P.S. No lemons in this authors story, I'm sure that many of you agree with me when I say that lemons shouldn't even exist and plague fanfiction itself with its smut.**

**Hint: The song is by O-Zone.**

**Read, Review, and Enjoy!**


	4. Chapter 4

The Mandalorian Rebel

Chapter 4

**First off I'd like to thank all you awesome reviewers out there, you are true bros to me, with your kind words and support. I know I said I'd update one I received 35 views but I had to make an exception with this one. I'd also like to give a special thanks to sgt surge for helping me formulate new ideas for my story. I give you my longest chapter yet!**

**But first off I have something to say to a particular viewer:**

**BluebirdSong09: I took some of your advice and this chapter shall focus on an inner darkness that resides inside Leonidas.**

**Disclaimer: Star Wars is property of Disney all I own are my OCs Captain Krunglin and Leonidas.**

"_Father!" a younger Leonidas cried. Xerxes was force pushed against the wall by the Inquisitor who was currently preoccupied with Jeremiah. Xerxes had buzz cut black hair with a short beard on his face, and hazel eyes. "Son." Xerxes said to Leonidas. _

_"Yes father?" Leonidas asked with tears in his eyes. "Take my Darksaber and get off Mandalore, you are our clan's future." Xerxes said softly to his son. "No father, come with me, you can still make!" Leonidas yelled desperately. _

_"No son, Mandalore is my home and I'll die defending it." Xerxes said to his son with a few tears in his eyes. Leonidas weakly nodded and took his father's Darksaber. _

_Xerxes stood up with a grunt and trudged towards the battlefield, but Leonidas stopped him and asked, "What are you doing?" _

_"Having one last battle alongside my friend, now go!" Xerxes ordered. Leonidas ran away so it appeared as though he was leaving but in reality he stayed put out of his father's sight. _

_Xerxes charged forward with his Cortosis Vibroknife and slashed the throats of a few imperial elites. Xerxes stood beside his comrade Jeremiah and fought the Inquisitor. Jeremiah used his electrostaff to distract the Inquisitor while Xerxes used his Vibroknife to attack weak spots in the Inquisitor's fighting techniques. The cycle continued for a while until the Inquisitor had enough and force choked the two clan leaders. The Inquisitor used the force to snap Jeremiah's neck and had a weak and vulnerable Xerxes on the floor. The Inquisitor ended the warlord by plunging his lightsaber into Xerxes's chest. _

_Leonidas felt grief overcome his mind, but that grief was soon replaced by something far more sinister: Anger. Leonidas activated his Darksaber and charged the Inquisitor. The Inquisitor reacted by parrying the shadowy blade. Leonidas attempted to mutilate the Inquisitor's leg but he easily countered it and punched Leonidas's face. "You are no match for me boy!" the Inquisitor tormented Leonidas in a dark tone. _

_"You will pay for what you have done, fiend!" Leonidas screamed. He rapidly attacked the Inquisitor who could barely keep up with blocking his strikes. The Inquisitor low swept Leonidas and kicked off his helmet. "You will die slowly, and I will enjoy every second of your pain." The Inquisitor said with a demonic smile. The Inquisitor slowly slid his blood red blade across Leonidas's face. Leonidas screamed in agony as the Inquisitor laughed darkly at his pain._

"Aah!" Leonidas screamed. He was drenched in cold sweat and he realized it was only a dream. Leonidas breathed a sigh of relief that he didn't wake up Sabine.

"I never forgot that day," Leonidas thought to himself, "It was the day I pledged that I'd purge myself of any weakness so that I could avenge my clan by killing the Inquisitor." Leonidas slowly got out of bed and went to the rec room to find that Ezra was only other person awake.

"What are you doing up so early?" Ezra asked Leonidas.

"I should be asking you the same thing." Leonidas replied.

"I'll tell you my reason if you tell me yours." Ezra told Leonidas.

"I was plagued by a recurring nightmare of my clan being slaughtered and my father dying at the hands of the Inquisitor." Leonidas said mournfully.

"I was up early to make sure you weren't going to hijack the ship." Ezra answered with distrust evident in his voice.

"Ezra, why do you distrust me so much?" Leonidas asked. "Because you seem to be flawless in everything you do, and you won the crew's trust easily!" Ezra said angrily.

"Ezra, I assure you I myself have weaknesses, the Inquisitor gave me my scar and whenever I see an officer who was involved in the genocide of my clan I'm overcome with anger and fury that clouds my judgment, I'm still working on keeping my anger away." Leonidas explained.

"Ezra are you jealous of me?" Leonidas asked.

"What, no!" Ezra replied evasively.

"Who are you trying to convince me or yourself?" Leonidas continued.

"Alright I am, it just seems that I'm always the child of the group, the one who has to stay away from the action and I'm never treated as an adult." Ezra admitted.

"Ezra listen, you are strong in the force and with the proper training you will be a great warrior." Leonidas said to the boy.

"But when will I be treated as an adult?" Ezra asked.

"When you start acting like one" Leonidas explained, "You won't be treated as an equal until you start making decisions for yourself and pitch in to help the team on the battlefield, trying to show off and attempting to curry Kanan's favor won't get you anywhere."

"What do you know?" Ezra snapped.

"Because when I was raised, my father said when I started acting like a man then I'd be fed like one, this taught me discipline and to act like an adult at a very young age." Leonidas explained.

Ezra now saw what Leonidas meant. Ever since Ezra joined the crew, he's attempted to show off and be the best out of the team, he lacked discipline, humbleness, and being courteous to his fellow team mates. Ezra was silent but Leonidas snapped him out of thoughts.

"I know I'll have to earn your trust, but you have to be respectful and realize that I'm not perfect, no one is and no one will." Leonidas finished and left to activate his HK unit. Ezra was now alone in the rec room with only his inner demons to think about.

Leonidas was sparring against his droid who used his holographic disguise to take the appearance of the Inquisitor in the training room. The Mandalorian and Holo-Sith parried each other's lightsabers. Every time Leonidas saw his droid take the form of the Inquisitor he was plagued by visions of his father being slaughtered. Leonidas lost control and violently attacked the Holo-Sith. The Holo-Inquisitor could hardly block all of strikes before his lightsaber was knocked out of his hand. Leonidas had the Holo-Inquisitor at his mercy but then another memory surfaced.

"_Remember son, when a Mandalorian embarks on a journey to avenge a loved one he must make his decisions based on how it will affect others, not just how it will satisfy his own personal vendetta." Xerxes said to a six year old Leonidas who nodded at his father's wisdom._

Leonidas deactivated his Darksaber and sat down with his hands on his scarred face. HK-51 deactivated his holographic disguise and sat next to his master.

"Master you could've finished me off right there, what is on your mind?"

"My mind can't seem to decide which path to take, the path of vengeance would allow me to get revenge for my father, the path of mercy would have me follow my father's teachings." Leonidas confided in his faithful droid.

"It's quite the dilemma master but I don't have any opinion on this matter, I'm just an assassin droid, but I can tell you this, do what your father would've wanted you to." HK-51 said to his master.

"I wish it were that simple", Leonidas replied to his droid, "My father was always an enigma I don't know what he would've wanted."

"Then do what seems right at the time." HK-51 advised. "Thanks." Leonidas expressed his gratitude to his droid. Leonidas left to ask something to every member of the crew.

Leonidas went back to the rec room to find that Hera woke up as well. "Morning Leonidas." Hera said.

"Morning Hera," Leonidas said to the Twi'lek, "may I ask you something?"

"Sure" Hera answered in her normal happy tone.

"You seemed to trust me right away without any suspicion why is that?" Leonidas asked.

Hera thought for a moment and answered, "I can just tell if a person is good or bad just by looking at them,I use my intuition, how else do you suppose I trusted Kanan when we first met?"

"I know but you don't know of my past." Leonidas stated.

"Kanan already told me about your past, I'm sorry about your clan." Hera answered sympathetically.

"You and Kanan sure are close, are you two…you know?" Leonidas asked.

"No, no!" Hera answered with a blush on her face that didn't go unnoticed by the Mando. "Alright then, later." Leonidas said.

Zeb woke up and stretched out a bit. When he came out into the halls he came face to face with Leonidas. "Ah, don't surprise me like that kid." Zeb said after recovering from his borderline heart attack.

"I've got a question for you Zeb." Leonidas told the Lasan calmly.

"What is it?" Zeb asked.

"Back at the cantina on Tatooine after I told you my past you said that I'd earned your respect, and judging from the reaction of your fellow teammates I'd say that you rarely respect anyone, how did I earn your respect?" Leonidas asked.

Zeb thought for a moment and answered, "Its simple boy, back on Lasat my people were trained to be warriors, but the Imperial Army led by Agent Kallus massacred my people and took over Lasat, by some miracle I escaped but I no longer had a family until I joined the crew, in short you and I both lost our loved ones to the Empire and I can respect a man who doesn't use his skills for his personal gain."

"Thank you for your time Zeb." Leonidas saluted Zeb and left.

Kanan woke up and immediately got to his feet for the mission, despite the fact that it didn't begin for a few more hours. Kanan went to the training room to practice with his lightsaber on a training probe.

Leonidas walked in and asked, "A moment of your time sir?"

"Sure thing Leonidas." Kanan answered.

"When we met on Tatooine you seemed to already trust me after I revealed my past to you, why?" Leonidas asked.

"Because we rebels have one thing in common, we all lost loved ones to the Empire and anyone who is brave enough to fight the Empire deserves to fight alongside me and my crew" Kanan answered, "besides this crew is like a family and in my eyes you are a member of the family, and we rebels are scarce we have to stick together."

"I see thank you for your time." Leonidas said respectfully and left.

Sabine was the last to wake up, which was rather rare. She looked over to the other side of the room to see Leonidas was absent and his bunk was made neatly. Sabine stretched out and put her armor on and clipped her helmet and spray-paint to her belt. When she walked by the cockpit she saw Leonidas marking a spare chair with the Mandalorian symbol.

"Leonidas, what are you doing here?" Sabine asked the Mandalorian.

"I'm marking my seat in the cockpit like you did with yours", Leonidas answered, "but I want to ask you something."

"What is it?" Sabine asked curiously.

"When we first met at the bazaar you were friendly with me even though I was a stranger and you trusted me, why?" Leonidas asked.

"I don't know myself but I can tell you this, according to Kanan you carried me to the medics and you didn't threaten me when you found me spying on you in the bazaar, my mother always told me if someone trusts you then you should give them the benefit of the doubt," Sabine answered, "Also you went out of your way to train me and comfort me in my time of self-doubt."

"Thank you Sabine." Leonidas said to her.

Everyone was in the rec room chewing on jogun fruits for breakfast and going over the plan. Kanan pulled up a hologram of the ISB headquarters, it could easily be mistaken for a prison. The base consisted of a base monitoring station to make sure no unidentified personnel took another step in or out of the base. There were four sentry towers that had scout troopers on them with sniper rifles. A giant security checkpoint lasergate protected the main entrance and only made the base look even more like a prison. Imperial riot troopers patrolled what appeared to be a courtyard full of ammo and supplies for the imperial occupants on Lothal, in pairs of two. There were tons of doors that lead inside of the bases' mighty walls, but there was one door in particular that contained high value information, and that information contained the location of high value individuals both slave and imperial.

"Here's the plan", Kanan explained, "HK-51 will pave a way for Chopper to access the controls in sentry tower alpha." Kanan pointed to the top left sentry tower on the hologram. "Then Leonidas and Sabine will infiltrate sentry tower gamma." Kanan continued. "Ezra and I will deal with sentry tower beta, and Zeb will take care of sentry tower omega." "Once we successfully capture all four towers we'll proceed to sabotage and commandeer as much supplies as we can, after that we must infiltrate the lower levels of the structure to obtain the files that have the locations of high value slaves that we can free." Kanan said. "And finally the communications center is the empire's man means of long range communications on Lothal, and Captain Krunglin of the ISB elite will be present." Kanan finished. Leonidas had another memory resurface.

"_Move out men slaughter every one of those Mandalorian mutts." Captain Krunglin ordered to his troops. Captain Krunglin was a rather bulky man wearing special imperial riot armor. He had green eyes, a flat top of brown hair, and a brown mustache. "What about the women and children, sir?" a stormtrooper asked the ISB officer. "What about them, slaughter them to sergeant!" Krunglin ordered. "Yes sir!"_

"You alright?" Zeb asked Leonidas.

Leonidas looked startled for a second before answering, "I'm fine just zoned out."

"I don't know about you but I'm really looking forward to killing some imperials." Zeb said while cracking his knuckles. "Same here." Leonidas replied.

On the planet Lothal it was night time which as always was dark and silent. A pair of stormtroopers were guarding the entrance to sentry tower alpha and they were bored.

"Why do we even bother guarding these doors?" One stormtrooper asked.

"They pay me well enough not to complain." The other stormtrooper answered.

The two troopers heard footsteps and drew their blasters and had their fingers on the triggers. A figure came out of the shadows and it appeared to be an imperial scout trooper.

"ST-1706685 get back to your post." One of the stormtroopers ordered.

The scout responded by pulling out a DC-17m and put a laser bolt in the two soldier' heads. The scout shimmered before revealing that he wasn't a scout at all, he was HK-51 using his holographic disguise module! A beeping was heard on the dead soldier's holocom.

"ST-17096421, we heard blaster fire are you okay?" a voice from the holocom asked.

"Just some Lothal meatbags trying to pick our pockets we're fine." HK-51 answered in the voice of a stormtrooper.

"Alright, that's good to hear, out!" the voice said.

"We're clear Chopper do your stuff." HK-51 told the astromech while holding his rifle at the ready. Chopper fiddled with the lock to the door while HK-51 covered him. After a few more minutes Chopper opened the door and HK-51 took point. HK-51 saw an imperial scout trooper on the balcony of the tower. HK-51 signaled Chopper to stay put and took out his Vibroknife. The assassin droid came up behind the scout and slit his throat, he then dragged the scout's body inside the tower. Chopper got on the tower's controls and disabled the AA-batteries so Hera could evacuate them when the mission was complete. HK-51 attached a scope and nozzle to his blaster to turn it into its sniper feature, before signaling Leonidas. "Master, sentry tower alpha is secured."

"Affirmative HK-51, proceeding to phase two." Leonidas answered his holocom.

Leonidas signaled Sabine to move into position so she'd have a visual on the pair of guards protecting the entrance to sentry tower gamma. This pair of guards were a lot more attentive than the ones who fell prey to HK-51's wrath. Leonidas took out a vibroknife and Sabine followed suit. Leonidas held up three fingers and moved them down one at a time. Once his thumb went down the two Mandos threw their knives and they both hit the stormtroopers' throats. Leonidas motioned for Sabine to come up and hotwire the door controls. Once Sabine was through Leonidas took point and move to the top of the tower that had a scout trooper on the balcony just like sentry tower alpha had. Leonidas crept forward and snapped the scout's neck, then he dragged the dead scout's body into the tower while Sabine disabled the alarm system in the data center. Sabine contacted Kanan via her holocom and said, "Kanan sentry tower gamma is secured."

"Alright, well done you two, initiating phase three." Kanan replied into his holocom.

Kanan asked Ezra if he had a visual on the guards by sentry tower beta. Ezra responded, "The guards appear to be exchanging stories master." Kanan walked up to the two guards.

"Freeze Loth rat!" One of the troopers demanded.

Kanan waved his hand and the two troopers fell asleep. Ezra hotwired the door panel just like the other teams did, and Kanan took point. Like the other sentry towers this one had a scout on its balcony, but suddenly a silenced blaster bolt came across the whole base and hit the scout right in the head. Kanan saw that the shooter was HK-51 who gave him a salute. Kanan hid the body while Ezra hacked into the controls and disabled the one way shield that domed the courtyard. "This is Ezra, sentry tower beta secured, you're on Zeb." Ezra spoke into his holocom.

"Copy that, initiating phase four." Zeb said back into his holocom. Zeb casually approached the two guards who immediately aimed their guns at him.

"Fellas fellas, no need for hostility I'm expected here." Zeb told the two troopers.

"Is that so?" one of the stormtroopers asked.

"Then let's see your clearance I.D." the other trooper said.

"Sure I got it right… HERE!" Zeb yelled and punched the two troopers into a state of unconsciousness. Zeb just smashed the door control and got the same results as the others did. And as expected, there was a scout on the tower's balcony. Zeb took out his Bo staff and used it to choke the scout. Like his fellow teammates he hid the soldier's body. Zeb hacked the controls and disabled their spotlights. "All teams this is Zeb sentry tower omega is secure, I repeat, sentry tower omega is secure, stage two of operation Sabreback is a go!" Zeb reported into his multi-communicator.

One riot trooper patrol was on alert when the spotlights went out. They had their electrostaffs at the ready, but they weren't prepared for a Jedi and his force sensitive apprentice. Kanan and Ezra activated their lightsabers and killed the two guards, before moving on to acquiring ammo and rigging the supplies to detonate once they left. Another patrol was also in panic, and didn't see the Mandalorian with a Darksaber approaching them. Leonidas decapitated one of the riot guards while Sabine shot the other. The two Mandos proceeded to acquire and sabotage the imperial supplies with Sabine's special explosives. Two more troopers fell victim to HK-51's deadeye sniper. The two droids moved into the courtyard and did what the others did. The final patrol was beaten down brutally by Zeb.

The team converged on the data center and Sabine placed a breach charge on the blast door. "Charge armed, clear!" Sabine shouted and went to the side of the door. When the door was blasted open, Ezra tossed a thermal detonator at the squadron of stormtroopers who were waiting for them on the other side.

Leonidas whistled, "Nice toss Ezra."

"Thank you." Ezra replied gratefully. The team proceeded to the data center and disposed of the intelligence officers rather easily. Chopper downloaded the data file and anything else worth downloading. "Stage two complete, moving on to the final stage of operation Sabreback." HK-51 announced.

"What do you mean the base's security systems are down?" Captain Krunglin demanded.

"The sentry tower controls are on the fritz sir, I can't reactivate them!" an ISB officer replied.

"Then try harder darn it!" Captain Krunglin ordered. The door then blew open and the ISB elite took out their electrostaff and combated the intruders. ISB put up a great fight but were no match for the rebels. Leonidas fought Krunglin with his Darksaber and Krunglin used a Cortosis electrostaff.

Krunglin attempted to lunge at Leonidas using his staff but Leonidas easily dodged the big man's strike. Krunglin twirled his electrostaff and hit Leonidas across the face. Leonidas sprung back up and parried Krunglin's attempt to impale him. Leonidas struck Krunglin's stomach with his palm, and followed it up with a knee kick to his chin. Krunglin got mad and charged Leonidas straight into the wall. Leonidas sheathed his Darksaber and wrestled Krunglin for his electrostaff and tossed it across the room so they fought fist to fist. Krunglin's bulky body gave him the upper hand in hand to hand combat, but Leonidas's athletic abilities allowed him maneuverability, so each combatant had an advantage.

Krunglin grabbed Leonidas's throat and began to choke him. Leonidas was losing oxygen in his lungs fast, so he kicked Krunglin's knee with all the force he could muster. The kick caused Krunglin to buckle in pain which allowed Leonidas to escape the chokehold. Leonidas attacked Krunglin while he was stunned and performed an uppercut on his chin, this caused the ISB captain to fall on his back and Leonidas pinned him down and started punching the captain rapidly in the face. The whole crew was in shock at how aggressively Leonidas was attacking Krunglin, having disposed of the ISB elite, they considered helping the Warlord but decided against it.

Krunglin was beaten down so badly that he couldn't even stand. Leonidas drew his WESTAR-35 pistol and aimed it at the bulky ISB captain's seriously bruised forehead. When the Mando looked into the captain's eyes he had another memory flash.

"_Sir we've rounded up the women and children, what should we do with them?" a stormtrooper asked Captain Krunglin. _

_"Begin executions Lieutenant." Krunglin ordered. _

_"Yes sir, right away sir!" the Lieutenant replied with a salute. A line of women and children from Clan Akaan were lined up in front of a row of stormtroopers with rifles aimed at the sky. The women hugged their children tightly. _

_"Ready!" the Lieutenant shouted to his subordinates. The troopers loaded their rifles. The children began to cry. _

_"Aim!" the Lieutenant continued. The troopers aimed their rifles at the women and children. _

_"Fire!" the Lieutenant finished. The soldiers pulled the triggers on their weapons, and blaster fire broke the silence of the night. A few of the local birds flew away from the sound. The prisoners fell onto the floor lifelessly. Leonidas, who was watching from a distance out of sight was crying softly to himself._

"I remember you," Krunglin exclaimed, "You are Leonidas Akaan, one of the Mandalorians who destroyed an ISB monitoring station on the moon of Mandalore!"

"You will pay for what you have done!" Leonidas snarled with more venom in his voice than a Rakghoul had in its entire body.

"Leonidas that's enough!" Kanan intervened.

"What are you waiting for you Mandalorian mutt," Krunglin taunted, "Pull the trigger and end my life, or are you to weak and afraid just like your father!" Leonidas pulled the trigger and his pistol's blue blaster bolt went right between the captain's eyes. The captain's eyes rolled back and his body went limp, he was dead.

"Why did you do that Leonidas?!" Kanan demanded.

"What do you care, he was just another lowlife imperial?" Leonidas snapped back.

"He could've had valuable information!"

"You think you could just ask him nicely and he'd tell you the valuable information of the ISB?"

"We could've reasoned with him!"

"There was no reasoning with that man!"

"And how would you know?"

"That's personnel!"

"When we get back to the ship you will have some serious explaining to do!" Kanan ordered Leonidas.

The rest of the crew was wide eyed at the argument, Leonidas is always calm and collected, but something about that captain made him snap. "Let's go, Hera has landed the Ghost in the courtyard." Zeb said braking up the argument between the two warriors.

The crew made their way back to the Ghost with looks of concern for Leonidas.

"How'd the mission go?" Hera asked always concerned for her crewmates' well-being.

Leonidas didn't answer and went straight to his bunk.

"What's with Leonidas?" Hera asked.

"He executed an ISB captain who may have had valuable Intel." Sabine answered.

"Why would he do that?" Hera asked.

"I don't know but there was something about Captain Krunglin that set Leonidas off." Zeb answered this time.

"I'll go speak with him." Kanan said. "I must warn you meatbag, my master is unstable when he is angry, but he is also unstoppable." HK-51 warned.

When Kanan entered Sabine and Leonidas's room the lights were all out. When he walked through the entrance he was ambushed by Leonidas.

The Mando snarled at Kanan, "Leave me ALONE!" Leonidas fled back into the room's shadows.

Kanan attempted to use his lightsaber as a light source, but when he reached for it he discovered it wasn't there.

"Looking for this?" Leonidas asked in a venomous tone. Leonidas had taken Kanan's lightsaber when he ambushed him.

"Leonidas we can talk this through." Kanan said.

"The same way you wanted to talk to Captain Krunglin!" Leonidas demanded from the shadows. Leonidas lunged from the darkness and literally kicked Kanan out of the room.

"How'd it go Kanan?" Sabine asked feeling mostly concerned for Leonidas.

"He sounded and acted like he was someone else, and he literally kicked me out of the room!" Kanan exclaimed.

"I'll talk to him, Kanan." Sabine said.

"Don't Sabine, it's too dangerous!" Kanan said with concern laced in his voice.

"He won't be hostile towards me." Sabine stated calmly.

"How do you know that?" Ezra asked.

"Because, when we were moving his things into my room he said that besides Maximus, I was the only friend he had." Sabine explained.

"Alright but be careful, there's an unstable Mandalorian warlord in that room with a Darksaber and my lightsaber." Kanan told Sabine.

"I know the risks." Sabine replied.

When Sabine entered the room the light near Leonidas's bunk was on. Leonidas himself was on the bunk crying softly into his hands.

"Leonidas, talk to me." Sabine said while sitting next to him on the bunk.

"Sabine, do you know why that captain set me off?" Sabine shook her head.

"He lead the massacre of my clan, he had no remorse for the lives of the children or the women." Sabine remained quiet and let Leonidas continue. "He executed the women and children of our clan right in front of me, he hated Mandalorians and didn't care what it took to kill them all, he thought that making them slaves would be a mercy and he wouldn't show any, so he executed them. He was the Inquisitor's lab dog and seeing him reminded me of my father's slaughter, and I couldn't let all those innocent Mandalorians go unavenged so I killed him. When Kanan said he wanted to keep the captain alive, my lust for revenge drove me to believe that he was sympathetic towards that madman. And seeing his lightsaber reminded me of the Inquisitor's blade, the Inquisitor slowly brought his lightsaber across my face, torturing me, relishing my pain, he gave me this scar." Leonidas finished gesturing to his giant scar. Sabine had a few tears in her eyes as well now.

"I understand now why you did what did." Sabine said.

Leonidas stopped crying once he got his emotions in check. Sabine was still there with him though. "Sabine, thank you for listening to me, someone understanding me is just what I needed to help me calm down." Leonidas said.

"You helped me in my time of self-crisis, it's only fair that I do the same." Sabine replied with a small smile. Leonidas gave a small smile back.

"Look let's go sort this out with Kanan." Sabine said to her fellow Mando.

"Alright Sabine let's go." Leonidas said now acting a lot more like himself.

The two Mandos made their way to the rec room where the rest of the crew was waiting. Leonidas sat next to Sabine on one of the crates/seats.

"I believe this belongs to you." Leonidas said while handing Kanan his lightsaber. Kanan accepted it with a nod of gratitude.

"First I'd like to apologize for my rash actions regarding Captain Krunglin." Leonidas told the crew sincerely.

"I want to know why you were so aggressive when you fought Krunglin." Kanan stated.

"And why did you act so hostile towards us?" Ezra asked. Leonidas answered them both by telling the crew what he told Sabine.

"I wasn't aware that you experienced that much trauma during your clan's massacre." Kanan said to Leonidas who answered, "It's one thing to see a fellow warrior fall, but witnessing the execution of the women and children of my clan shattered my mind and caused me to lose control whenever I see someone or thing that was involved in the massacre."

"I'm sorry for your loss." Hera said.

"You and I have our differences Leonidas but what you experienced was cruel and inhuman, you deserve a family, and that family is this crew." Ezra said. Leonidas was shocked at the fact that Ezra didn't criticize him for his actions much less feel sympathetic towards him.

"Forgiveness is what differentiates us from the Empire, if we ridicule you for your rash actions, then we're no better than the Empire." Kanan chimed in. "You are all too kind." Leonidas said.

Hera cooked the team Nuna legs for dinner in honor of the mission that not only achieved valuable Intel, but also got the crew to trust Leonidas a little more. The meal went on with conversation, giving Hera a blow by blow of what happened during the mission, HK-51 beating Chopper at holochess, and Leonidas learning a bit more about his crew mates' pasts.

After dinner Hera announced, "I've set coordinates for Malastare, we'll be meeting with the Broken Horn syndicate there." The crew nodded and went off to their bunks.

Leonidas and Sabine changed into their sleepwear and talked a bit. "Sabine would you tell me your past, I want to know you a little better?" Leonidas asked.

"You told me your past, I think it's fair that I tell you mine." Sabine answered. Sabine told Leonidas about her clan and how she left it when her family became negatively involved with the Empire. She also told Leonidas where her love of art originated, it was when she visited Falucia as a young girl, the color of the wildlife created her love of color. Her inspiration to paint was born when she visited Alderaan and saw the sunset by a mountain ridge. Ever since then she saw art as a way of life, just as Leonidas saw combat as a way of life, she would put some art into the things she did to spice life up a bit.

"You left your clan to stand by your convictions, you should be proud." Leonidas complimented.

"It wasn't easy to leave my clan, but I couldn't stand them getting involved with the Empire." Sabine said.

"Do you ever regret it?" Leonidas asked.

"Never", Sabine replied, "Mandalorians are supposed to serve no one but the clan we were raised under."

"I saw that independent flair in you when we fought the ISB, but I must ask, when I first met your crew on Tatooine I observed your interaction with them and came with conclusion that it's hard to earn your respect, so why did you respect me on Tatooine?" Leonidas asked.

"You already asked me this." Sabine said.

"No last time I asked why you trusted me, not why you respected me." Leonidas pointed out.

Sabine thought a moment before saying, "When I saw you fight Borga and Zeb during the tournament I could tell that you were well trained, and when you showed that you respected me when we met in the bazaar I knew that you earned my respect."

"Are you happy that we met?" Leonidas asked.

"Of course, if it wasn't for you then I wouldn't have had the most exciting moments of my life!" Sabine exclaimed.

"And if it wasn't for you, Sabine, I wouldn't have faced my inner demons and I wouldn't have met this crew I now call family." Leonidas stated.

"Fate works in mysterious ways doesn't it?" Sabine said.

"Or as Kanan would say, it's the will of the force." Leonidas said mimicking Kanan's voice. Sabine giggled at the imitation.

"Goodnight Leonidas Akaan." Sabine said.

"Goodnight Sabine Wren." Leonidas responded.

"_Where am I?" Leonidas asked. He was in a completely white room. _

_"We are here to make your mind stable once more son." A voice said from seemingly nowhere. Leonidas looked around to see a man in Mandalorian armor made to resemble an Acklay, his arms painted to look like the Acklay's spider-like legs, his helmet made to resemble an Acklay's head and the top part of his helmet stuck out like the Acklay's bizarre forehead in the form of a Mohawk making it look like a crown. _

_"Who are you?" Leonidas demanded. The green armored Mandalorian removed his helmet to reveal Xerxes. _

_"Hello son." Xerxes said to Leonidas. "Father!" Leonidas exclaimed and hugged Xerxes. "I thought you were dead." Leonidas said. "I am, this is merely a dream my son." Xerxes explained. Leonidas was happy to see his father again even if it was just a dream. _

_"What are you doing here?" Leonidas asked. _

_"Weren't you listening, I'm here to make your mind more stable?" Xerxes explained. _

_"How, I can't keep those horrible images out of my mind." Leonidas stated. _

_"Captain Krunglin was one of your inner demons, the source of your lust for revenge, now that he is dead your memories of our women and children's massacre will no longer plague your mind." Xerxes said in a comforting tone. _

_"But what of the Inquisitor, father, my mind will be unstable again the next time I see him?!" Leonidas exclaimed. "That is one problem I'm here to remedy, it will not be vanquished completely but it will be weakened, you must do the rest yourself." Xerxes explained. _

_"Remember my teachings son, you are now part of a group so you must trust them to decide the proper fate for the Inquisitor when the time comes," Xerxes continued, "Killing the Inquisitor will not bring me back, you must be a better man then him with your judgment, take solace in the fact that Clans Oberus and Akaan are still alive inside Maximus and yourself, and when the time comes your children will remember you as the savior of Clan Akaan." Xerxes finished. Leonidas contemplated and saw his father's wisdom and realized that these memory flashes were generated from his sorrow and lust for vengeance. "Thank you father." Leonidas said. "You're welcome my brave boy, I must go now, now go make me proud!" Xerxes said before a bright white light enveloped Leonidas._

Leonidas woke up yelling, "Father!". He was once again drenched in sweat and this time he woke Sabine up. "What is it?" Sabine asked concerned. "My mind is at peace Sabine, my mind is at peace." Leonidas said calmly.

**And done! Read, Review, and most importantly enjoy!**

**A/U: I'll update once I reach 45 reviews. Thank you all awesome reviewers. God Bless! Glory to Mandalore.**

**Remember no Flames. To all you reviewers you are the best, your encouragement does wonders to my confidence level and if you'd show my story to your friends if they like fanfiction I'd be grateful, I need to know that the readers want me to continue.**

**I'm also fully aware that some of you may not like my story and you are entitled to tell me what you think needs improvement but you can't be harsh with it. **


	5. Chapter 5

The Mandalorian Rebel

Chapter 5

**First off I'd like to thank all of you awesome reviewers! Your support and faith have kept me going and gave me a reason to write for your enjoyment. I'm disappointed that none of you have guessed what Leonidas's favorite song is, I want to see some guessing here people! I'd appreciate positive reviews please, my story can't meet every readers' standards, and I'm pleased that it has met yours. Glory to Mandalore!**

**But first to answer a few questions:**

**Guest: Death Watch isn't an actual Mandalorian Clan.**

**Burke23: Yes I have seen the movie 300 and the sequel, Leonidas's father is named Xerxes because it's a cool and fitting name.**

**GrimReaper: Yes they will kind of confess their feelings in this chapter. ;)**

**Disclaimer: Star Wars is property of Disney, all I own is my OC Leonidas.**

Leonidas, as usual, was the first to wake up aboard the Ghost. Ever since his dream of his father he was focused on calming his mind, so when the Inquisitor appeared again he wouldn't lose control like he did with captain Krunglin. Leonidas silently went to the ship's kitchen to grab his breakfast, a jogun fruit, and proceeded to activate his HK unit. When the Mandalorian and his faithful assassin droid silently reached the ship's training room Leonidas and HK-51 started with their usual morning sparring. HK-51 took the form of Agent Kallus and was armed with a Bo Staff. Leonidas fought the Holo-agent with his bare hands. The two sparred for a while until Leonidas knocked his sparring partner down.

"Good run master, your father would truly be proud!" HK-51 complimented his master.

"I know, he would've". Leonidas replied.

Leonidas checked his holocom to see the time he had left before his crewmates woke up, three hours. Leonidas practiced his blaster blocking by having HK-51 fire blaster bolts at him which he blocked using his wrist shields. HK-51 continued his blaster volley but Leonidas blocked each one with his shields.

Once they were done with their daily exercise HK-51 asked, "Where are we going now master?"

"Malastare." Leonidas answered after he took a swig from his canteen.

"I look forward to slaughtering more meatbags!" HK-51 stated excitedly.

"No, as far as I know we won't be seeing any action on this op, we're just trading the cargo we stole from the ISB headquarters on Lothal to the Broken Horn Syndicate for credits and information on the location of HVIs." Leonidas explained.

"Pity." HK-51 said.

"Which reminds me, HK-51 do you have any files on the Broken Horn Syndicate?" Leonidas asked.

"Analyzing, results found!" HK-51 stated while taking the form of a green skinned Devaronian with one of his horns broken. "Cikatro Vizago, born on Devaron and the current leader of the Broken Horn Syndicate. His only desire is money and power over the weak, he is greedy and untrustworthy but has some valuable Intel with high price tags on them, making him a key source of information to those who seek it. His gang consists mostly of: Thug Droids, Grans, Gammoreans, Niktos, Koopaz, Devaronians, Weequays, Rodians, Cyborgs, and Humans. All of his allies' service is based solely on the income they receive for their services not loyalty. Backstabbing is rather common amongst this syndicate and if you make deals with them, extreme caution is advised." HK-51 finished before returning to his true form.

Leonidas contemplated on this information. Vizago would defiantly offer credits for his armor, Darksaber, or HK-51, and if he refused Vizago's offer he'd probably attempt to take his possessions by force."HK-51, if things get hairy down on Malastare; which they probably will, initiate slaughter program Cerberus Prime." Leonidas ordered his droid.

"Gladly master!" HK-51 cackled sadistically.

"Seriously?" Leonidas asked his droid.

"What, I've waited a long time to use that slaughter program?" HK-51 answered.

Leonidas pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head slowly. "There is no reasoning with that droid." Leonidas thought to himself.

When the rest of the crew woke up, they still had an hour to kill before they arrived at Malastare, so they each did their thing to entertain themselves: Sabine and Leonidas talked over a game of holochess, Zeb was doing one handed pushups, Kanan and Hera were chatting over how the last mission went, Ezra and Chopper were trying not to laugh as they quietly put sand down Zeb's back, HK-51 being himself polished all of the weapons he could get his hands on and singing something about slaughtering meatbags. When the Ghost dropped out of hyperspace the crew geared up and each got a crate ready to move.

"So do you trust Vizago?" Leonidas asked Sabine.

"How'd you know about Vizago?" Sabine asked her friend, having not told him about the Devaronian thug.

"I did some research on the Broken Horn Syndicate hours before any of you woke up and I discovered that their only real allegiance is to money." Leonidas answered.

"I don't trust him that much, but he has provided us with valuable information." Sabine answered.

"That doesn't mean he wouldn't sell your crew out to the Empire", Leonidas remarked, "I don't trust pirates, when Maximus and I ran into some Anomid gangsters on the mountains of Alderaan, the only thing that was on their minds was killing us and taking our possessions, and we were just nine years old."

"We are Vizago's key source of income, he wouldn't sell us out." Sabine said.

"I know, but for how long?" Leonidas asked.

Before the two could talk any further they were interrupted by Zeb, "Hay lovebirds, if you two are finished we have some supplies to exchange!"

Before either deny the fact that they weren't boyfriend and girlfriend, the ramp opened and the crew began to make their way to a rather dull camp of refugees and gang members of the Broken Horn Syndicate.

"Leonidas, HK-51, and Sabine, since you are our best fighters you're coming with me to make the exchange with Vizago!" Kanan ordered. "Everyone else distribute the rations to the refugees!"

Leonidas observed the makeshift base of the syndicate, it was a dump consisting mostly of multiple stands and a few buildings all of which had vendors in them trying to sell trinkets of all kinds. Every now and then the team would walk by a pair of guards, the species of which were always one of the species that HK-51 mentioned. When they reached an arena for pit fights Leonidas spotted Vizago sitting on a throne being entertained by Twi'lek dancers.

"Vizago we have some supplies for you." Kanan exclaimed getting Vizago's attention.

Vizago told the dancers to leave and said to Kanan, "Ah, my favorite business partners, and it seems that you have a new member!"

"My name is Leonidas Akaan of clan Akaan." Leonidas introduced himself while extending his hand.

Vizago shook it and asked, "Are you Sabine's boyfriend by any chance?"

"Why does everyone keep thinking that?!" Leonidas and Sabine yelled at the same time.

"Well, just by looking at you two together you'd see two Mandalorians that are meant for each other." Vizago said.

"Let's get back to business!" Kanan said breaking up the argument.

"Oh right yes, business, the only thing that matters!" Vizago exclaimed. But before the exchange could get back on track, Vizago was distracted again by Leonidas's droid.

"Is that an HK unit?" Vizago asked excitedly. Leonidas nodded. "They are so deadly and rare, how much do you want for him?" Vizago continued.

"Not for sale pal." Leonidas said calmly.

"Is that so, I'll trade you a dozen Thug Droids for him?" Vizago offered. Leonidas shook his head.

"You drive a hard bargain", Vizago said, "I'll give you two dozen Thug Droids and seventy-five thousand credits in exchange for your HK unit."

"No deal!" Leonidas said. Kanan was about to say something but decided not to, his supplies were no longer Vizago's interest.

"How about a friendly competition?" Vizago asked.

"What kind of competition?" Leonidas asked.

"Your HK unit will fight my syndicate's greatest droids without either using blasters, if my droids defeat HK-51 then you will give him to me, along with all your cargo for free. But if by some miracle your droid wins then I'll give you double the payment for your supplies, a datapad containing the locations of HVIs, and state of the art blasters for your droid." Vizago explained.

"Deal!" Leonidas said immediately. Vizago smirked, "Good send your droid to the pit for the event in fifteen minutes, and I'll go ready my droids."

"Leonidas what are you thinking", Kanan demanded, "We could lose your droid and all of our supplies to Vizago!"

"No one insults a Mandalorian's droid and gets away with it, HK-51 is the only memory I have of my father and Vizago tried to buy him from me." Leonidas answered calmly.

"Leonidas is right Kanan, besides if we come out on top we'll get double our payment." Sabine told Kanan.

"Alright I have faith in your droid Leonidas." Kanan told the Mando before leaving to inform the rest of the crew.

"Thanks for backing me up Sabine." Leonidas told his fellow Mandalorian.

"We're friends Leonidas, and this is what friends do for one another." Sabine said cheerfully.

"That was the fourth time someone thought we were a couple." Leonidas mused.

"I know right", Sabine agreed, "What is up with that?"

"We are both Mandos, we both have colorful armor, we both love Mandalorian cuisine, and we both seem to get along on levels that seem to go a little farther than friendship." Leonidas reasoned.

"What do mean, goes beyond friendship?" Sabine asked.

Leonidas took a deep breath before bashfully saying, "Sabine when I first met you on Tatooine, I thought that you were...kind of pretty." Sabine felt her heart skip a beat.

"Leonidas I to have a confession to make", Sabine said bashfully, "When I first met you I thought you were kinda cute." Leonidas and Sabine both felt so alive inside with the learning of how they saw one another, the unknown feeling inside the two Mandos grew a little larger.

"You really think I'm pretty?" Sabine asked.

"Not just pretty", Leonidas exclaimed, "You are full of spirit, brave, tough, sweet, sassy, and a Mandalorian, those are all the traits of a perfect Mandalorian girl, any Mando would fall head over heels for you!" Sabine's face was now as red as Mustafar, she then decided to tell Leonidas why she thought he was cute.

"Leonidas, I like you because you never tried to charm me, you trained me, you gave me comfort in my time of self-doubt, you are disciplined, strategic, calm, observant, and Mandalorian, a girl could really fall for a guy like you." Sabine told her friend. The two Mandos looked into each other's eyes and leaned closer. Their lip got closer to one another until Kanan and the rest of the crew interrupted the moment.

"Are we intruding on something?" Zeb asked.

"No nothing at all!" the two Mandos exclaimed at the same time with blushes on their faces.

"Okay, but HK-51 needs to get into the arena for the competition." Kanan said.

"Alright, HK-51 initiate slaughter program Cerberus Prime!" Leonidas ordered his droid who until now was completely silent since they landed."

"Affirmative master, initiating slaughter program Cerberus Prime!" HK-51 acknowledged. HK-51's eyes turned red and his voice became more malicious, before he left for the arena.

Once the crew found a good spot to observe the fight along with many other syndicate members and refugees Sabine asked, "What is Cerberus Prime?"

"Watch and see." Leonidas answered with a grin on his face.

"Welcome folks, we have a very special treat for you this rotation, an HK unit is taking on the pit fighting droids!" a Nikto announced in basic. The crowd roared in approval.

"First up we have HK-51 versus the Eviscerater!" A giant super battle droid with modified parts and chain blades for arms came out onto the field to combat HK-51.

"Calculating, odds of victory are 96%." The Eviscerater stated emotionlessly.

"And….Fight!" the Nikto yelled.

The Eviscerater charged with his saw blades at the ready to turn the HK unit into spare parts. HK-51 flipped right over the blade wielding droid and gave him the "bring it on" sign with his fingers. The Eviscerater recklessly charged again only to have the assassin droid violently counter each of the strikes with the vibrosword he was given. The Eviscerater's core was beginning to overheat from his constant attempts to shred the HK unit and as a result he was beginning to slow down.

HK-51 agilely leapt forward and sliced off one off the Eviscerater's blade arms. The Eviscerater, now down one arm, tried to stab HK-51's face with his remaining arm but the HK unit moved to the side and decapitated the Eviscerater. "And the Eviscerater's days of eviscerating are over as HK-51 moves on to droid number two!" the Nikto announced. Most of the crowd was disappointed that the Eviscerater lost, only because they bet on him to win. Leonidas and Sabine were collecting bundles of credits with smiles on their faces. The crew looked at the two Mandos quizzically.

"Oh, Leonidas and I were the only ones that bet HK-51 would win, we gotta make ends meet somehow right?" Sabine explained.

"I don't know if I should be happy that you won us some credits, or mad that you risked this crews' money." Kanan replied.

"Next up HK-51 will go head to toe with the Incinerator!" the Nikto yelled. The audience cheered and placed their bets. The Incinerator was a modified Thug Droid with a flamethrower and a tank fuel on its back linked with the deadly fire breather.

"Vizago's cheating!" Ezra exclaimed.

"No he isn't Ezra", Leonidas told the young Jedi, "He said that the droids couldn't use blasters in the competition and the flamethrower isn't a blaster."

"But then the Incinerator has an unfair advantage!" Zeb exclaimed.

"Not quite, HK-51 is prepared for this." Sabine answered.

The Incinerator lived up to its name and attempted to incinerate the HK unit. HK-51's Cortosis armor plating made the flames harmless to him and flanked the flame droid. The Incinerator recklessly tried to torch the assassin droid but only accomplished making the pit extra crispy. The red eyed assassin droid cut off the flamethrower's nozzle making it useless. The Incinerator threw away his flamethrower and took HK-51 on face to face. The Incinerator was adept at close quarters combat, but HK-51 was an expert and easily blocked all of his opponent's attacks. The two droids continued to brawl until HK-51 decided to finish the fight. The assassin kicked the Incinerator back several meters with his powerful legs and chucked his vibrosword at the fuel tank that was still on the Incinerator's back.

**KABOOM!**

The Incinerator was now nothing more than a pile of ashes and HK-51 was unscathed and triumphant. "I can't be the only one who sees the irony in the fact that the Incinerator has been incinerated!" the Nikto announced.

Vizago slammed his fist into the arm of his seat. "Send in the Wookie Slayer!" Vizago ordered a nearby Koopaz guard. The Koopaz obeyed Vizago's orders and fiddled with a control panel.

"Ooh boy, folks this is going to be epic!" the Nikto announced having received the identity of HK-51's final foe. The crowd began cheering so loud that it could render an Anuba deaf for a few weeks. "For the final round of the competition HK-51 must battle the ultimate, the sinister, the undefeated, WOOKIE SLAYER!" the Nikto announced at the top of his lungs.

Out of a large gate came what appeared to be a combination of a Crab and Magna droid, the Wookie Slayer had six legs that resembled that of a spider, its upper body was a Magna droid carrying a Bo Staff, it stood an intimidating eight feet tall and could give a little kid nightmares. The Wookie Slayer gave a deafening roar of battle. "FIGHT!"

The Wookie Slayer was lightning fast and struck with incredible force that rivaled a Gundark's fist. HK-51 was being knocked around but he got back up and jumped on the Wookie Slayer's back. The HK unit began to repeatedly strike the giant droid's weak back, he continued to strike it for five more seconds until the Wookie Slayer had enough and rotated around to knock HK-51 off. HK-51 went underneath the walking nightmare of a droid and hacked off one of its limbs making it slower. The Wookie Slayer kept attempting to hit the HK unit with his Bo Staff but failed as HK-51 was going at top speed hacking of the Wookie Slayer's limbs one at a time. Eventually the Wookie Slayer was legless and immobile, and HK-51 delivered the coup de grace by punching into the Wookie Slayer's chest and ripped out his power core.

"And that's it, HK-51 has defeated the Wookie Slayer, HK-51 has won the competition, I never thought I'd live to see the day that droid lost a fight!" the Nikto yelled. The audience gave its signature thunderous applause in response. When HK-51 returned to his master his eyes returned to their normal orange color.

"Well done HK, you rule!" Ezra complimented the assassin droid.

"I only did what I was programmed to do, do whatever I can to help my master's family." HK-51 responded.

Vizago angrily placed tons of credits in Kanan's hands and gave Leonidas a sniper rifle for his droid. In addition Vizago handed over a data pad containing the location of HVIs. "You Mandalorian punk, you made a mockery of me!" Vizago snarled at Leonidas.

"Hey, you were the one suggested we should have a "friendly competition" you lost the competition and now you are giving us what you promised." Leonidas countered. Vizago growled.

"Let's go crew, we need to head to Saleucami to refuel and with these extra credits we are set for a while." Kanan told his crew.

As the rebels left for the Ghost, Vizago smirked darkly. Vizago went up to a holoterminal in an empty room and locked the door. "No one makes a mockery of Cikatro Vizago and gets away with it!" Vizago said to himself while pressing some buttons on the holoterminal. The holoterminal activated and a hologram of an ISB agent appeared.

"This is Agent Kallus of the Imperial Security Bureau, state your name and business." The agent ordered the Devaronian.

"I'm Cikatro Vizago, leader of the Broken Horn Syndicate and I have…"

"I'm not interested in buying your merchandise!" Agent Kallus interrupted.

"No, I have some information that might interest you, for a price of course." Vizago said sinisterly.

"What kind of information?" the sideburned agent asked.

"It regards the rebels that have troubled you on Lothal." Vizago answered.

"I'm listening." The agent said.

"How'd the exchange go?" Hera asked.

"Really well." Kanan answered.

"How so?" Hera asked confused.

Kanan explained the events of the competition and how HK-51 creamed three of the syndicate's best droids. "Once again Leonidas, you make this crew credits." Hera told the Mando. Leonidas just nodded before going with Sabine to the training room to continue her training.

Leonidas and Sabine sparred with each other albeit Sabine was wearing a blindfold. Leonidas attempted to uppercut Sabine's chin, but Sabine grabbed his fist and threw him over her head and onto the floor. Leonidas sprung back up and low swept Sabine and knocked her down as well. Sabine was getting much better with her fighting techniques and fluency with her opponents movements.

"Well done Sabine, you're coming along well!" Leonidas complimented his friend.

"Thanks Leonidas." Sabine said.

"Now for the probes." Leonidas said while handing Sabine a metal staff and activating the training probes. The probes began to swarm Sabine but she quickly identified the formation and exploited its weakness. The probes attempted to attack her from all sides but Sabine dodged them agilely and swatted each one down. "Now for the Joguns." Leonidas said while chucking a Jogun fruit across the room that was quickly intercepted by Sabine's Vibroknife.

"Excellent Sabine you are almost at Akaan status!" Leonidas exclaimed. Sabine high fived Leonidas and thanked him.

"We're coming up on the Saleucami fueling station master." HK-51 reported to his creator.

"On our way." Sabine replied. The two Mandos made their way down the ramp with the rest of their crew to keep an eye out for thieves who were not uncommon in the outer rim planets. All was going smoothly without any thugs trying to mug them until…

An EMP charge flew out of nowhere and lodged itself inside the Ghost's engines. A wave of EMP disabled the Ghost temporarily. A smoke grenade also came out of seemingly nowhere and created a smokescreen rendering the crew without vision. Leonidas and Sabine switched their helmets to thermal optics and saw six stormtroopers advancing on the crews' position. The two Mandalorians drew their WESTAR-35 blaster pistols and mowed down the troopers with relative ease. When Kanan could focus again, he used the force to clear the smoke and something sinister stood across from them. Three men wearing black armor pieces over a short black robe, and helmets that were the same color as their armor but with a red visor. The man in the middle of the three; presumably the leader, was slightly different, his armor was a light black color, and he wasn't wearing any robes just black armor.

"It's the Emperor's Shadow Guard!" Leonidas exclaimed.

"The Emperor's what?" Ezra asked.

"The Shadow Guards are the most elite soldiers in the entire imperial military, rumor has it that they were once Jedi whom the Emperor tortured to the point of becoming completely loyal and mute." Leonidas explained.

Two dozen stormtroopers formed up behind the Shadow Guards and had their blasters ready. The three Shadow Guards pulled out their staffs in tandem; with the exception of the leader who pulled out a double-bladed lightsaber, and activated them and a red blade emerged from the sabers.

"I'll take the leader you take the others." Kanan ordered. The stormtroopers aimed their rifles at the rebels but the Shadow Guard Leader raised his hand up signaling them to stand down. Sabine and Leonidas drew their WESTAR-35 pistol and Darksaber respectively and took on one of the Shadow Guards while Ezra and Zeb drew their lightsaber and Bo Staff respectively and took the other.

Leonidas kept his opponent busy with his Darksaber will Sabine tried to shoot the weak spots in his armor. The Shadow Guard was no pushover though as he was able to duel Leonidas and use the force to block the blaster bolts from Sabine's pistol. The Shadow Guard began to spin his saberstaff to push Leonidas far away from his partner and deflect Sabine's blaster bolts. When the guard began to focus on Sabine she put up a good fight against the Shadow Guard by parrying his saber with her Cortosis Vibroknife. The guard tried to jump kick Sabine but the spunky Mandalorian jumped up and kneed the soldier's chin. The Shadow Guard had had enough and began to force choke Sabine.

Leonidas, who just recovered at the time, saw what the Shadow Guard was doing to Sabine and felt something inside him boil. "Hey, glorified bucket head!" Leonidas shouted. The warrior turned to look for the source of the insult but was met with a punch to the face, knocking him flat. With the Shadow Guard's focus broken Sabine was released from the force choke and was gasping for breath. Leonidas impaled the Shadow Guard with his own saber and left to tend to Sabine.

"Thanks Leonidas." Sabine said to her fellow Mando. "Just catch your breath Sabine, wait until your oxygen flows normally." Leonidas instructed.

Meanwhile, Ezra and Zeb were fighting the other Shadow Guard. Zeb and Ezra didn't get along that well, but were a deadly tag team in combat. Zeb used his Bo Staff to combat the Shadow Guard while Ezra used his lightsaber to attack when the guard was vulnerable. "These guys are almost as tough as Leonidas!" Zeb thought to himself while parrying his foe's strikes. Ezra attempted to attack the Shadow Guard from behind but the guard sensed him and force pushed him into a stack of nearby crates. Ezra was knocked unconscious by the impact with the crates, leaving Zeb to face the elite warrior himself. Zeb began to strike at the Shadow Guard ferociously and the Guard used the force to dart back and forth from Zeb's attacks. When Zeb became weary from all the attacks the Shadow Guard hit him with a torrent of Sith Lightning. Zeb tried to get up but couldn't, the lightning drained his energy and made him experience excruciating pain.

Ezra regained consciousness and saw Zeb being electrocuted by the Shadow guard. Ezra closed his eyes and concentrated, he felt the force flow through his mind and body and harnessed its energy into his hands and unleashed a powerful force push. The momentous force of energy knocked the Shadow Guard off of the platform to plummet to his death. "You saved me kid." Zeb said with weak smile. "You need to rest Zeb, okay?" Ezra told the Lasat.

Kanan had never fought a foe this strong before, the Shadow Guard Leader was a force to be reckoned with. Kanan could barely keep blocking the Shadow Leader's frenzy of attacks, let alone fight back, Kanan aimed high and low but the Shadow Leader blocked each one easily. The warriors got caught in a saber lock, each one fighting to overpower the other. Kanan kicked the Shadow Leader back a few meters with a force powered kick. The Shadow Leader recovered and split his double-bladed lightsaber in two, giving him dual wield dominance. The Shadow Leader jumped at Kanan while spinning his lightsabers tornado style. Kanan threw his lightsaber at the airborne Sith causing him to fall to the ground. The Jedi took advantage of the temporarily stunned guard and dashed forward to go on the offensive. The Shadow Leader was now being pushed back, inch by inch, until he decided to return the favor. The Shadow Leader fired a stream of lightning at the Jedi Knight pushing him back again.

"Sabine, go help Ezra get Zeb back into the Ghost, I'm going to assist Kanan!" Leonidas ordered.

"Okay, but please don't die out there." Sabine said to Leonidas with worry laced in her voice.

"I'm a Mandalorian, Sabine, I always survive, now go!" Leonidas told his friend. Sabine complied and Leonidas activated his Darksaber and aided Kanan's fight against the powerful Shadow Guard Leader.

Kanan was getting weak and couldn't block the lightning for much longer and the Shadow Leader was just getting started. Kanan thought that this would be were his journey ends, but luckily he was wrong. Leonidas charged the Sith and knocked one of his two lightsabers out of his hand. While the Sith was recovering Leonidas went over to assist Kanan.

"Leonidas, what are you doing?" Kanan demanded as Leonidas helped him up.

"What I was trained to do", Leonidas answered, "To make sure that this spark of hope and rebellion never goes out!"

Kanan holocom began to beep, so he activated it. "Kanan the Ghost's engines are back online, get back to the ship we need to get out of here!" Hera's voice ordered.

"Come on Kanan let's get out of here!" Leonidas said to Kanan as he helped him walk.

"Yes let's." a dark voice that didn't belong to Kanan said. Leonidas turned around to see it had come from the Shadow Leader!

"In fact I'll give you a hand!" the Shadow Leader cackled. The Shadow Leader force gripped Kanan and tossed him across the fueling station and in front of the Ghost were Sabine and Ezra helped him get in.

Leonidas reactivated his Darksaber and assumed a defensive battle stance. The Sith charged at the Mandalorian and began the fight. Leonidas swiftly slashed at the Shadow Leader's sides, but were blocked easily. The Shadow Leader skillfully twirled his sabers like a cyclone of death itself, making it impossible to predict where he would strike. Instead of attacking the warrior joined his to lightsabers into one double-bladed lightsaber. The two were stuck in the infamous saber lock with no clear victor.

While pushing to overpower the guard's assault his comlink began to beep. "Leonidas you need to get on the Ghost now, they're multiple TIE fighters inbound!" Hera yelled. "Leave me, I know what I signed up for, I'll hold off the stormtroopers while you get out of here!" Leonidas replied.

Back in the Ghost, the entire crew was in the cockpit listening to Leonidas's reply to Hera's orders.

"No you can still make!" Sabine shouted into her comlink.

"No I can't, if I get into the Ghost then so will the Shadow Leader, I can't risk your safety now go!" Leonidas answered with sounds of lightsabers clashing in the background. Hera did as she was instructed and activated the engines and set the coordinates for hyperspace.

"And Sabine, I want you to know I lo…." The comlink connection ceased before the statement was finished. Sabine wiped a few tears from her eyes and manned the top turret while HK-51; who was recharging at the time, manned the bottom turret.

"For Clan AKAAN!" Leonidas shouted. He kicked the Shadow Leader's face, knocking him out. Leonidas charged towards the platoon of stormtroopers, who were firing stun rounds from their blasters. Leonidas decapitated the first trooper who got within his range. He then mutilated another, and incapacitated the one next to him. A trooper fired a stun round at the Mando's back, but to the trooper's surprise it didn't completely stun him. Leonidas took out his WESTAR-35 pistols and shot the trooper. He then switched his pistols to full auto and mowed down eight other soldiers. Leonidas holstered his pistols and drew his Darksaber again to block the stun rounds for a while until a stun round got past him and actually stunned him this time. Leonidas was now unconscious on the floor.

A trooper was about to put a blaster bolt in the warlord's head until, "Don't kill him!" the Shadow Leader ordered.

The Sith proceeded to remove Leonidas's Rancor painted helmet and examined the tattoo on his neck. The Shadow Leader chuckled darkly. "Take him to our prison on Ord Mantell." He ordered the trooper.

"Today is a dark day for the rebellion, for we have lost one of if not the best fighter of this crew, Leonidas Akaan of Clan Akaan, he sacrificed his life to preserve our spark of rebellion, he revealed to us what evil things the empire did to his clan and possibly many other families across the galaxy, he will be remembered as the brave, disciplined, humble, noble, and honorable warrior that he was." Kanan preached to the crew in the rec room. They were doing a memorial service for Leonidas, though they knew that he might still be alive.

"Leonidas I hope that you survived." Sabine said to herself.

"Don't feel bad Sabine, my master is a tough warrior, look inside yourself what does it say?" HK-51 comforted Sabine cryptically. Sabine decided to humor the droid and did as he asked. Sabine heard Leonidas's voice saying: Akaan is alive.

"He isn't dead!" Sabine announced to the crew.

"What makes you so sure?" Ezra asked.

"I looked within myself and something told me: Akaan is alive." Sabine answered.

"You could just be going through depression Sabine." Zeb told the Mando.

"Not quite Zeb", Kanan interjected, "Non-force sensitive beings can still receive a message from a close friend when in peril, and the force is in everyone."

"Did he say where he is?" Hera asked. Sabine shook her head.

"Then we'll have to wait to see if you receive another mind message." Kanan said.

Leonidas's eyes slowly opened and saw that he was in what appeared to be a detention cell block. Leonidas examined himself and saw that he still had his armor on but his weapons, holocommunicators, and helmet were missing. He heard footsteps approaching his cell and laid back down on the bench inside the cell and acted as though he was unconscious.

"Wake up rebel scum!" A voice barked before hitting Leonidas on the head with a baton.

Leonidas "woke up" and asked, "Where am I?"

"I'm Agent Kallus of the imperial security bureau." Agent Kallus said completely ignoring the Mandalorian's question.

"You just love introducing yourself like that don't ya?" Leonidas asked. Agent Kallus growled and hit Leonidas across the face using his baton.

"We don't tolerate Smart Alek's in this facility!" Agent Kallus scolded Leonidas.

"You know full well I'm a threat why don't you just kill me?" Leonidas asked.

"The Emperor saw it fitting that we'd torture you slowly instead of giving you the luxury of letting you get a quick shot to the head." Kallus told Leonidas.

"Kind of cliché if you ask me." Leonidas mused.

Agent Kallus growled and left the cell. Leonidas put his ear up to the closed door and heard, "Guard the prisoner Agent Lexan, he is more valuable then all of the prisoners in this prison combined!"

"Yes sir!" Agent Lexan acknowledged Kallus with a salute. Kallus returned the salute before leaving. Leonidas contemplated any means of escape, and in doing so a memory surfaced.

_A twelve year old Leonidas was sitting next to his father on a makeshift stool. "For your next trial son you must know something." Xerxes instructed his son. "What is it father?" the young Leonidas asked curiously. "The Imperial Agents are deadly and cunning but they have one weakness, Imperial Agents have a brainwashing chip implanted in their brains on their first day in case of insubordination and betrayal, each agent has a keyword to activate their brainwashing chip." Xerxes explained. "How would I know them?" Leonidas asked. "You don't, but you will after this trial", Xerxes continued after handing his son a datapad, "This datapad contains the name and keyword for almost every agent in the empire, I want this data memorized by dinner, if not then no food for you." "Yes sir!" Leonidas saluted his father. Xerxes chuckled and said, "Good, now make Clan Akaan proud!"_

Leonidas thought for a moment before remembering agent Lexan's keyword.

Lexan was standing guard until he heard Leonidas say, "Agent Lexan Andros, initiate brainwashing protocol omega, keyword: Acropneumonia." Agent Lexan froze for a second before his face took on a glazed-over appearance with his eyelids half closed.

Agent Lexan opened the cell door and said to Leonidas in an emotionless voice, "Agent Lexan, brainwashing code omega initiated, how may I serve you sir?"

"Escort me to my belongings and appear as though you are relocating me to another cell!" Leonidas ordered.

"Acknowledged sir." Lexan said in his emotionless voice.

Lexan escorted Leonidas to the confiscated items storage. The officer who was guarding the storage vault noticed the two approach. "Agent Lexan what are you doing he…" the officer didn't get to finish his question since Lexan put a blaster bolt through his forehead.

"Well done Lexan." Leonidas told his brainwashed "friend".

"What are your orders sir?" Lexan asked Leonidas.

"First tell me where I am." Leonidas told the Lexan.

"You are on Ord Mantell, prison cite SXL-ME 206189.""Bring me my possessions." Leonidas ordered. The brainwashed agent obeyed and brought Leonidas his possessions.

Leonidas put his helmet back on and clipped his pistols to his belt and his Darksaber to his back. "Bring me a holographic disguise simulator, Lexan." Leonidas told the agent. While Lexan went off to retrieve the requested item, Leonidas fiddled with his holocom.

"I hope this works." Leonidas thought to himself.

Back on the Ghost things were quiet and Sabine was trying desperately to find a hint to Leonidas's whereabouts. "Sabine it's been three hours, it's time to let go." Hera told the Mandalorian that she loved like a daughter.

Before Sabine could protest, HK-51's eyes turned blue. "Emergency distress channel Lone Wolf patching through now!" HK-51 announced and successfully got the crews' attention. HK-51's eyes beamed a hologram of Leonidas to the middle of the room.

"Do you read me, this is Leonidas Akaan, respond?" Leonidas asked.

"We here you!" Sabine said excitedly.

"Sabine, oh it's such a relief to hear your voice!" Leonidas exclaimed.

"Yours to, but where are you?" Sabine asked.

"I'm on Ord Mantell, prison cite SXL-ML 206189", Leonidas reported, "I'm sending you the schematics of the structure, if you can break me out that'd be great."

"Hera's setting coordinates for Ord Mantell right now." Sabine informed Leonidas.

"I've procured a holographic disguise simulator, I'll disguise myself as Agent Kallus and disable the long range scanners and AA-batteries, and I'll await your arrival at landing pad Sigmus disguised as Kallus, landing pad Sigmus is near the courtyard and with the scanners and AA-guns disabled you will be met with low threat resistance, good luck Sabine Wren." Leonidas finished and logged off of the holocommunicator.

Leonidas activated his holographic disguise simulator and took the form of Agent Kallus. "Lexan Andros, counter brainwashing protocol Alpha, you will return to your post and remember nothing of what transpired after Kallus asked you to stand guard, keyword: Pyrophobia." Leonidas ordered Lexan.

"Acknowledged, returning to my post sir." Lexan replied emotionlessly and left.

Leonidas walked through the prison halls without a hitch, he would salute an officer hear, and salute a cadet there, but other than that everything was going perfectly. Leonidas walked up to the power room for the AA-guns and saw that there were a few engineers in the room. Leonidas couldn't shoot them, the bodies would be discovered and the shot might be heard. Then an idea popped into his head.

"Troops, attention!" Leonidas ordered. The engineers scrambled to get in a neat line.

"Agent Kallus", one of the engineers said albeit nervously, "What do we owe the honor?" Leonidas chuckled and decided to have a little fun and activated his holorecorder.

"You sound nervous soldier, care to tell me why?" Leonidas asked in a strict tone.

"Well your safety inspection wasn't due until two rotations from now." Another engineer told him meekly.

"What's the matter soldier, is there something that you do during your job that you hide from me?" Leonidas asked.

"We may m-may sneak a Sabec deck in here every now and then during our shift." Another one of the Engineers shakily confessed.

"What could possibly be more fun than the honor of serving the Empire?" Leonidas snapped.

"N-n-n-nothing sir!" the fourth engineer answered.

"I didn't become an ISB officer overnight, I earned it through hard work, now go to the warden and confess your laziness to him NOW, or I'll break every one of your limbs one at a time!" Leonidas yelled. The engineers wasted no time in following his orders.

Leonidas laughed silently to himself. "Now for the real mission." Leonidas thought to himself. He carefully placed some thermal charges inside the panels and reactor. Leonidas then linked an alarm to go off once he turned his comlink on. Leonidas destroyed hazard alarms in the room so the engineers wouldn't discover the detonators. Leonidas left the power room and made his way to the long range scanner control room.

The scanners ran by themselves so there weren't any engineers, however there were two stormtroopers guarding the transformer that provided power for the scanners. The two stormtroopers stood at attention when Leonidas approached them.

"Agent Kallus what can we do for you?" The two soldiers said in unison.

"I'd like access to the transformer." Leonidas replied. "I'm sorry sir but only engineers are allowed in." One of the troopers told the "Agent". Leonidas silently activated his comlink which caused the alarm to go off. "There appears to be a disturbance in sector seventy one, let's roll." The other trooper informed his teammate.

Leonidas heard his comlink go off and answered it, "This is Leonidas."

"Good to see you're still in one piece", Ezra's voice said, "We are now beginning our descent to platform Sigmus, are the scanners and AA-Batteries disabled?"

"Affirmative, proceeding to landing pad Sigmus!" Leonidas replied into his comlink.

A scout trooper was standing atop the sentry tower keeping an eye on the prisoners in the courtyard. The scout checked the skies and saw what appeared to be a bulky ship closing in fast. Before the scout could react, a cannon from the ship fired and destroyed the sentry tower. The clone from the adjacent tower activated the alarm after discovering that the AA-batteries were disabled.

The crew of the Ghost got out of their ship and began to open fire on the advancing troops. Sabine threw a thermal detonator at a nearby sniper nest and proceeded to eliminate a few more troops with her blaster pistols. "Where's Leonidas?" Kanan asked while deflecting the incoming blaster fire.

"He said he'd come to us, but there's a chance he may have been compromised!" Sabine answered.

"Then we need to gain more ground!" HK-51 stated while sniping any troopers he could find.

"But there's too many of them!" Kanan yelled.

"Then we need some help!" Zeb announced before shooting the controls to the prison courtyard. The prisoners saw their opportunity for freedom and began a prison riot. The prisoners had to take down any stormtrooper they could for their blasters.

With that distraction more troops had to divert from the rebels to the rioting prisoners. "Nice thinking for once Zeb!" Ezra complimented Zeb.

"Thanks, wait a moment?" Zeb said just realizing what Ezra said to him. Ezra snickered.

"Wait I think I see him!" Sabine exclaimed while pulling down her helmet's attached scope to get a visual on her fellow Mandalorian.

Leonidas was running away from a squad of ISB agents who saw through his disguise, thankfully they were quickly shot down by rioting prisoners. However another problem took the place of the one that was solved, the automated turrets at the security checkpoint were beginning to tear the rioting prisoners apart. Luckily Leonidas had one last trick up his sleeve, he pulled out a detonator and activated it reducing the power station into a colorful inferno. The turrets shut down due to the lack of power and allowed the rioters to continue unhindered.

Leonidas sprinted across the path to landing pad Sigmus while dodging a blaster bolt here and there and finally made it to his crew. Once everyone was onboard the Ghost took off and jumped to hyperspace. Everyone was silent in the rec room until as usual Leonidas broke the ice, "So, did anyone miss me?"

"I'm glad that you are back Leonidas", Ezra said, "Things were pretty dull around here in your absence."

"I never thought I'd here you say that, so have I earned your trust?" Leonidas asked.

"Yes." Ezra replied.

"Friends?" Leonidas asked while extending his fist for a fist bump.

"Friends." Ezra said and accepted the fist bump.

"I'm glad that our family is whole again", Hera said cheerfully, "your clan would be proud of what you did back there, you disabled the auto turrets allowing some of the prisoners to escape."

"Thanks, but I only did what any of us would've done." Leonidas responded.

"If it wasn't for your actions at the fueling space station on Saleucami, I'd probably be a dead man" Kanan thanked the Mando, "Your knowledge and selflessness saved us from the Shadow Guards, and you helped the prisoners escape by rigging the power station to blow." Kanan extended his hand and Leonidas shook it.

Sabine walked up to Leonidas and punched him across the face. "Ow, what was that for?" Leonidas asked.

"That was for making us think you were dead!" Sabine shouted at him.

"Fair enough, but I sti…" Leonidas was cut off when Sabine pulled him into a kiss. Leonidas was shocked at first, but relaxed.

The crews' eyes were wide open and their mouths were gaping, Chopper blew a gasket. The two Mandos' kiss was true and passionate, and once they separated Leonidas asked, "And what was that for." Leonidas asked with a smile on his face. "For coming back alive." Sabine answered the Mandalorian.

**Annnd done! I want to see some guesses as to what Leonidas's favorite song is in chapter 3 there is a hint in the same chapter. Positive reviews please, if anyone has some advice PM me, but I won't change the fact that Leonidas and Sabine kissed in this chapter. There is such a thing at love at first sight, and Sabine and Leonidas took a liking to one another because of their fighting skills. Trust me Mandalorians like people who are good fighters and earn their respect. God Bless!**

**A/N: I'll update once I have 60 reviews.**

**GLORY TO MANDALORE!**


	6. Chapter 6

The Mandalorian Rebel

Chapter 6

**Howdy my fellow comrades and reviewers, first I'd like to congratulate guest for guessing what Leonidas's favorite song was in chapter three, Dragonstea din Tei by O-zone, give him a hand folks! Guest you are now an honorary member of clan Akaan! Huzza! And whenever I have a little guessing game, if you are correct with your guess then you'll be an honorary member of clan Akaan or Oberus.**

**As for the guest question, Clan Akaan fought the Empire because they attacked them.**

**As for Triko88: I'm well aware of what you imply, but all you reviewers who always point out the rooms for improvement have one thing in common, you never actually wrote a story yourself, same goes for Bluebirdsong. I'm not perfect and as I said before I'm a newbie writer, so pardon me if my story isn't perfect!**

**But back to business, first I've noticed that Awesome Bill from Dawsonville has made a story with the Sabine x OC pairing, this is exactly what I want to see, people following the trend I'm attempting to start. Now whenever you review I don't want to hear any criticism about my portrayal of the characters this is called fanfiction for a reason. I do my best to improve.**

**Disclaimer: Star Wars belongs to Disney, all I own is my OC Leonidas.**

The crew was still silent after the two Mandos kissed, and Sabine and Leonidas just snickered. Leonidas knew exactly how to break the silence, "So, should I make some Tiingilar to celebrate?"

"NO!" the crew exclaimed at the same time.

"I just said that to get your attention". Leonidas chuckled. Sabine just rolled her eyes with a smile on her face.

"So I guess I was right, you two are lovebirds" Zeb stated with some happiness in his voice, "I'm happy for you two!"

"Are you crying Zeb?" Kanan asked with a grin on his face.

"What, young love is a beautiful sight!" Zeb defended. Chopper was beeping happily. "What are you so cheerful about, stubby?" Zeb growled at the astromech. Chopper revealed that he'd recorded Zeb crying. "Why you little…!" Zeb yelled angrily and began to chase the astromech. The crew burst into laughter.

"So where are we headed?" Leonidas asked Hera.

"Lothal" Hera responded, "We need to infiltrate the Imperial Academy, our Intel from Vizago says that there is a holocron locked away there."

"I'm not so sure." Leonidas interjected.

"What's wrong?" Sabine asked her companion.

"I'm positive that Vizago sold us out to the Empire", Leonidas explained, "Saleucami isn't within Imperial territory and the Emperor wouldn't send the Shadow Guard just on a hunch."

"No way!" Kanan argued, "We are Vizago's key source of income, why would he betray us?"

"Simple", Leonidas explained, "You weren't selling him anything good lately, and combined with the fact that he had to pay double last meeting would give him plenty of reason to see us as liabilities instead of assets."

Hera decided to break up the argument, "Guy's, look we all had a rough day, how about I make us some dinner." The Jedi and Mandalorian warlord agreed and stopped their argument about Vizago. Leonidas offered to help but Hera said that he should rest. Leonidas reluctantly agreed and decided to rest in the rec room with Sabine.

"So are we officially boyfriend and girlfriend?" Leonidas asked with his arm around Sabine's shoulder.

"I guess so Leonidas." Sabine replied with a smile on her face.

The two Mandos have never been so happy in their whole lives, Sabine never thought she'd fall for anyone when her mother told her that she might find that special someone that you can't live without. Ever since Sabine met Leonidas she felt feelings that she'd never felt before, and now she had realized that its love. Leonidas himself reminisced about his days as a young boy, he and Maximus would claim that they'd never fall in love. How wrong they were, Leonidas had feelings for Sabine that he'd never had for any other girl he'd met. Sabine was so spunky, and sweet. Another one of Leonidas's memories resurfaced.

"_Father, I won't fall in love!" a sixteen year old Leonidas argued with his father, Xerxes. Xerxes just chuckled, "Son, I myself claimed that when I was your age, but trust me, one day you will meet that special someone in your life, every clan member finds a mate eventually son, and almost every one of them thought that they'd never find love." "Well I won't be one of them." Leonidas argued. Xerxes just shook his head at his son's claim, "One day you will find that special girl and something tells me it will be soon."_

Leonidas realized that Sabine was that special someone, she helped him conquer his inner demons and was always there for him. Leonidas realized that he was in love with Sabine Wren. Leonidas looked to see Sabine resting her head on his shoulder and he also saw that his arm was still around her shoulder. Leonidas was really comfortable and didn't bother to move Sabine and decided to let her rest on his shoulder.

Hera was passing by and noticed the two Mandos. Hera chuckled to herself a bit, "Another spark has helped ignite the fire of rebellion, love."

Once dinner was ready everyone was chatting about the fun parts of the prison riot. Dinner was a simple Jogun fruit salad and leftover Bilerat stew.

"Wait I almost forgot, you should listen to this if you want some laughs." Leonidas exclaimed. Leonidas turned on his recording of him scolding the engineers, disguised a Kallus. The crew laughed so hard that they could barely breathe. Once everyone was done laughing at the recording Kanan got back to much more serious matters.

"That Shadow Guard commander took me down easily, Leonidas, are all the Shadow Guards this tough?" Kanan asked the Mando.

"Not really, this one was stronger than any other Shadow Guard I ever fought", Leonidas said to the Jedi, "There's also the possibility that you are to accustomed to the nimrod imperials, as opposed to the elite, we need to up our game."

Kanan nodded in agreement and went back to eating.

"This also means we need to up my training, Leonidas." Sabine told her boyfriend, who agreed.

"The Empire has upped their soldiers' training and quality because those stormtroopers back on Saleucami weren't the idiots that I knew and maimed on Lothal, so we have to do the same!" Zeb exclaimed.

"Here's to taking our rebellion to the next level!" Ezra exclaimed.

About a half-hour later everyone was stuffed and tired, everyone went to their rooms to get whatever sleep they could in before the mission on Lothal. Leonidas and Sabine however stayed up to do some training. Sabine was knocked down by Leonidas's metal staff, but she quickly recovered and attempted to strike Leonidas's rib cage. Leonidas grabbed Sabine's pole midstride and twisted it out of her hands. Leonidas now had two poles to use against an unarmed Sabine.

Leonidas charged at Sabine with both staffs in hand, but Sabine remembered her training and kicked her staff out of Leonidas's hand and retrieved it. Sabine struck Leonidas's kneecap causing him to buckle from the blow. Sabine seized the opportunity and knocked Leonidas down and had her staff pointing at his throat.

"Well done Sabine you've come a long way from when we began your training." Leonidas complimented the female Mando.

"I had a good teacher!" Sabine replied while helping Leonidas up.

"Give yourself some credit Sabine, your strength and determination is what got you to where you are now, albeit you still have a ways to go before reaching Akaan status." Leonidas stated.

"Any guesses as to what's so important about that holocron?" Sabine asked.

"Could contain a message from a dead Jedi, it could be a location of a HVI, or it could be instructions", Leonidas mused, "So do you know how Kanan intends to infiltrate the Imperial Academy?"

"I don't know, in fact I believe Kanan himself isn't sure about whether or not there is a holocron there, I think he really is desperate for something to help the rebellion, and the fact that that Shadow Guard beat him with relative ease doesn't really help his confidence."

"You really think that Kanan would become that desperate after one overwhelming defeat?" Leonidas asked. Sabine nodded.

"Oh hey guys, I thought you were asleep." A voice stated. The voice belonged to Kanan Jarrus.

"We were just about to, what are you doing here?" Sabine asked her crewmate.

"Well, I wanted to get some training in." Kanan said.

"Kanan I need to ask you something", Leonidas told the Jedi, "How do you intend to infiltrate an Imperial Academy on Lothal, the planet where you are most known?"

Kanan sighed, "I don't have a plan, and I just need a mission to keep my mind off of the events on Saleucami."

"Kanan, as the crews' leader you need to have a plan before sending your crew on a dangerous mission." Leonidas told Kanan.

"Leonidas, don't you think I already know that?" Kanan told the Mando, "That Sith defeated me easily, and you stood a better chance, I don't think I'm fit to be a leader."

Sabine and Leonidas were stunned, Kanan didn't think he was fit to lead, and was already broken after one defeat.

"You want to know something Kanan?" Leonidas asked the Jedi, "A true leader doesn't quit when things get tough, he gets back up on his feet so he can inspire others to do the same, a true leader doesn't lose hope when he loses a fight, he gets better so he can defeat the evil of demoralization and inspire hope in others who lost theirs, a true leader doesn't compare himself to those who did a better performance than himself, he learns from his defeats so he can win the next fight, and a true leader is never weak, he is only weak in mind and spirit when he fails to do what a true leader should, that's what my father said to me when I was very young and had my self-doubts after losing a string of fights, and look at me now!"

Sabine was shocked at Leonidas's moral boosting speech, and Kanan seemed to regain his confidence. "A true leader may falter but he never allows himself to fall, or others who believe in him may suffer the same fate." Leonidas finished.

"You're right Leonidas, this crew's counting on me to kindle the spark of rebellion." Kanan exclaimed. "How about a duel, you and me, no force powers?"

"Deal!" Leonidas agreed. Sabine couldn't help but smile and the display of friendship before her, this was one of the reasons she fell for Leonidas. The two warriors ignited their sabers with the energy levels set to the lowest to avoid any serious lacerations and got into their offensive stances. Sabine gave the signal and the duel began.

Leonidas and Kanan charged forward and parried each other's slashes. Kanan used variety in his form by never striking the place twice in a row keeping Leonidas on his toes. Leonidas was on the defensive but his honed reflexes made it easy for him to parry Kanan's blows. Leonidas began to spin his Darksaber rapidly and began to push Kanan back and tip the battle in his favor. Leonidas kept spinning his Darksaber and attempted to hit a new area with every time Kanan deflected it and with more force. Kanan finally managed to stop Leonidas's advance and caught him in a saber lock both combatants struggling to overpower the other but neither was making any real progress in dominating the other. Leonidas kicked Kanan's shin and knocked the lightsaber out of his hand when he buckled. Kanan quickly retrieved his lightsaber to barely parry Leonidas's Darksaber. Kanan was quickly losing ground to the Mando and was beginning to grow weary. Kanan kicked Leonidas into the air, but he quickly recovered and spiraled through the air to attack Kanan. The two combatants exchanged blows until they both had their sabers pointed at each other. Leonidas's saber was pointed at Kanan's throat and Kanan's saber was pointed at Leonidas's chest.

The two called it a draw and shook hands. "Good fight Kanan", Leonidas complimented, "If you were allowed to use the force you would've creamed me."

"You to Leonidas, but I must say, if you were allowed to use your blaster pistol as well I think you would've won!" Kanan told the Mando.

"So, do you still believe that you aren't fit to lead this crew?" Sabine asked the Jedi Knight.

"No, I don't, In fact this assignment will involve you two playing a key role", Kanan said enthusiastically, "And Sabine, looks like you found love after all."

Sabine blushed and Leonidas himself was bashfully rubbing the back of his head. Though they were happy that Kanan didn't seem to have any issues with their relationship, although both Mandos were also aware that Ezra might be sad.

"I'm happy for you two, love has added fuel to our fire of rebellion, and it gives us something worth fighting for." Kanan explained. The two Mandos nodded their heads in agreement.

"Well good night you two!" Kanan said.

"Good night, Kanan!" the couple said at the same time.

Once Kanan left Sabine asked Leonidas, "How do you do it?"

"Do what?" Leonidas asked.

"Give people comfort when they doubt themselves and give hope." Sabine replied.

"It was a skill I picked up from my father", Leonidas explained, "Though he was a strict man, he could give hope to anyone, it was just a natural gift he had, and that gift encouraged hundreds of Mandalorians every day. I kinda picked it up when I trained the newcomers."

"I think that if you hadn't joined the crew back on Tatooine this crew would have been pulverized." Sabine told her companion.

"I don't know about that, but I'm glad to help the crew wherever and whenever I can." Leonidas replied to his girlfriend.

Sabine couldn't help but smirk at Leonidas's humbleness, "Well goodnight Leonidas!"

"Goodnight Sabine, I'll be with you in a second." Leonidas told the female Mando.

Leonidas decided to get some food in his stomach before he hit the sack. When Leonidas entered the room the kitchen he saw Ezra leaning against the wall. "What is the problem Ezra?" Leonidas asked, although he knew full well what it was about, Sabine.

"I can't believe you won her over." Ezra said with some depression evident in his voice.

"Ezra, I can tell that you liked Sabine, but she chose me and just because you like someone doesn't mean that they have to like you back, besides you are two years younger than her." Leonidas told the young boy.

"I know, but I was a part of this crew longer then you and she didn't even give me a chance!" Ezra told the Mandalorian warlord.

"Ezra, something tells me that she knew you were too young for her, and I'm also willing to bet that you didn't bother to ask her about her interests." Leonidas replied in his usual calm tone. Ezra remained quiet and looked at the floor shamefully. "I'll take your silence as an agreement." Leonidas told the Jedi in training.

Leonidas felt some sympathy for the pickpocket and decided to give him some advice. "Ezra, I can only assume that you like girls who are independent and able to take care of themselves, like Sabine, am I right."

"Yes, being raised on the streets of Lothal makes you attracted to girls who've endured the same as you have." Ezra confessed.

Leonidas chuckled, "Mandalorian women are by definition, independent and able to fend for themselves, and female Mandalorians are prized for their strength, independence, and beauty. However they only spend time with equally skilled warriors, mostly male Mandos are the only ones who court with them, and they don't take to kindly to unskilled fighters who try to charm them. Needless to say they are difficult to make friends with, even harder to court one."

"So you're saying that Sabine believed I was unskilled in combat?" Ezra asked.

"No, she just knew you were too young for her, but I have a proposition for you, I could train you the same way I trained Sabine, this will make you better with hand to hand combat, and in all likelihood we might meet another female Mandalorian that's around your age." Leonidas offered.

"How hard would it be?" Ezra asked.

"Ten times harder than your Jedi training." Leonidas answered.

Ezra gulped and thought for a bit. What if he did meet another girl like Sabine and he didn't have the combat skills to start a friendship with her. Leonidas easily won Sabine over with his sharp combat reflexes. And it could also help him be a better Jedi.

"Alright, I'll think about it." Ezra told Leonidas. Leonidas had a grin on his face as Ezra left for his bunk, he was happy that Ezra was considering his offer. Leonidas went to his bunk and dozed off. Once he fell asleep he had another dream:

_Leonidas was in the completely white room again, and the Acklay armored Xerxes appeared in front of him. "Father!" Leonidas saluted his father, knowing this was only a dream. "I'm proud of you son, you know that?" Xerxes told his son. "What have I done that made you proud?" Leonidas asked Xerxes. "You found that special someone in your life, and to think you were telling me you'd never fall in love." Xerxes chuckled. "Sabine's amazing, she unlike any other girl I've met, she's so sweet, yet so dangerous." Leonidas told his father. "I felt the same way when I met your mother, I'm sure she would for you and Sabine right now." Xerxes said. Leonidas remembered his mother died giving birth to him. As if reading his mind Xerxes said, "She is very proud of you, and she knew that giving birth to you would result in her death, when I argued she told me that there would be something special about you, and as always, she was right." Both of the Mandos laughed a bit. "Son, letting Sabine into your life has brought you one step closer to rebuilding clan Akaan, and on top of you possibly training the boy brings you all the closer, farewell son!"_

Leonidas woke up and saw that Sabine was still asleep. Leonidas checked his holocom and saw that they wouldn't arrive at Lothal for another two hours. Leonidas decided to begin his early training. Before Leonidas left the room to activate HK-51 he took one last glance at Sabine, "She looks so cute when she's asleep." Leonidas thought to himself.

Once Leonidas activated his faithful assassin droid it already had a greeting for his master, "Ah master, another early start today I assume?"

"You know me too well my good friend." Leonidas chuckled.

The two quietly made their way to their favorite place on the Ghost: the Training Room. The assassin droid took the form of the Inquisitor and activated his double-bladed lightsaber. Leonidas kept his cool this time and wasn't plagued by vision of his clan's genocide.

Leonidas activated his Darksaber and went on the offensive by attempting the sun djem technique. The Holo-Inquisitor cartwheeled away from Leonidas and attempted to strike Leonidas's throat. Leonidas already knew of this tactic and parried the red blade away from him with his Darksaber. The Holo-Sith began to spin his lightsaber into a vortex of red and began to push Leonidas back. Leonidas always hated that tactic and had no choice but to go on the defensive. The Holo-Inquisitor halted his spinning cyclone of a lightsaber and kicked Leonidas in the chest.

The kick sent him back a few meters but he easily recovered. Leonidas flipped over the Holo-Sith's attempt to strike his ribcage and punched his pale face. The Holo-Inquisitor attempted to lung forward at Leonidas and plant his lightsaber into his chest, but Leonidas cartwheeled to the side and successfully executed the sun djem technique, cutting the Holo-Inquisitors lightsaber in half. Leonidas kicked the defenseless Holo-Sith onto the floor and had his Darksaber pointed at his throat.

"Good work master, and you didn't lose control!" HK-51 complimented Leonidas while returning to his true form.

"Thanks HK-51, and you're getting better with your Inquisitor disguise module." Leonidas returned the compliment. HK-51 saluted in appreciation.

"Did the crew believe you when you told them Vizago sold them out to the Empire?" HK-51 asked nonchalantly.

"What do you think, HK-51?" Leonidas asked his assassin droid.

"They didn't believe you, did they?" HK-51 stated.

"Bingo."

"Why would they be so quick to deny the fact that Vizago isn't always a reliable source of income or data?" HK-51 asked his master.

"Because I think they're desperate, besides Sabine of course." Leonidas replied bashfully at the last part.

"So you and her are a couple now?" HK-51 asked slyly. Leonidas nodded in reply, before getting back on topic.

"I believe that Vizago is their only real source of Intel", Leonidas explained, "It's like telling someone that their father is a spice dealer, when you greatly depend on someone you refuse to believe that he or she is corrupt, and to be frank with you HK-51, I wouldn't be surprised if that wasn't the first time Vizago sold them out."

"Vizago sure is taking advantage of that reliability" HK-51 mused, "Without the worry of losing his best business partners, Vizago can sell them out to the Empire at any price he wants."

"Exactly", Leonidas told his droid, "Next time we visit him to do a trade, place a tracking device on his ship, or supplies."

"With pleasure master!" HK-51 replied eagerly.

"HK-51 I need Intel on a new target." Leonidas ordered his droid.

"Certainly master, all I need is a name or location." HK-51 replied obediently.

"Imperial Training Academy Orion, location Lothal." Leonidas told his HK unit.

"Analyzing, match found!" HK-51 said before taking the form of an Imperial officer, he had one fake eye the other real eye was brown, he also donned a very short beard and was bald, he had an average build but seemed to carry an authoritive presence. "Major Jarvis Viron, born on Dantooine and a well-known Imperial instructor. He runs the Imperial Academy on Lothal with an iron fist, he doesn't know much of the rebellion as he has been confined to training cadets. The Imperial Academy is heavily fortified, and only people with I.D. will avoid being pulverized, the Academy is hiring freelancers and bounty hunters to train the cadets as official trainers are in short supply, a rumor says that within the Academy's walls lies a Jedi Holocron taken from the Jedi Temple back on Coruscant." HK-51 finished before returning to his true form once more.

Leonidas contemplated the information and found out what Kanan meant about him and Sabine playing a key role in the plan.

"I think I know what Kanan meant when he said Sabine and I would play a key role in the mission." Leonidas told his droid.

"What is it Master?" HK-51 asked curiously.

"I'll give you a hint: What are Mandalorians most known for?"

"Being the finest warriors in history?"

"Bingo!"

After a few more rounds of sparring with his droid, each round using a different combat module, Leonidas decided to go wake Sabine up. Leonidas ordered HK-51 to stay in the training room before stealthily moving through the ship to his and Sabine's room. Leonidas shook Sabine, "Wake up sleepyhead." Leonidas told Sabine.

"Five more minutes!" Sabine mumbled.

"Okay, you asked for it!" Leonidas told her mischievously, and scooped her up and carried her bridal style.

"What are you doing put me down Leonidas!" Sabine demanded, albeit some laughter was evident in her voice.

"You weren't getting up so I had to do it for you." Leonidas joked.

"Well I'm awake now, so please put me down!" Sabine pleaded to Leonidas.

"Maybe I'll just carry you to the training room." Leonidas stated.

"No don't, I can walk!" Sabine told Leonidas.

"But I thought you wanted five more minutes?" Leonidas asked slyly.

"Yeah, five more minutes of sleep!" Sabine exclaimed.

"No can do Sabine, you'll just have to rest while I carry you to the training room." Leonidas told Sabine.

Sabine gave up and just let Leonidas carry her. "This is embarrassing", Sabine thought to herself. But a part of her enjoyed being in Leonidas's arms.

"And here we are, the training room!" Leonidas announced while putting Sabine down.

"Don't do that again!" Sabine snapped at Leonidas.

Leonidas just shrugged sheepishly, Sabine couldn't help but giggle at Leonidas's attempt to look innocent. "So what exercise are we doing today?" Sabine asked while doing some calisthenics.

"Time for you to fight my droid." Leonidas replied while signaling HK-51 to step forward. HK-51 complied and took the form of a Shadow Guard.

"This is the final trial to see if I'm worthy of the title Mandalorian?" Sabine asked her fellow Mandalorian. Leonidas nodded and tossed her an electrostaff, which Sabine caught with one hand. Sabine spun her electrostaff to get a feel for it and activated it. The Holo-Guard did the same and activated his Saberstaff.

"Good luck Sabine Wren, I know you can do this." Leonidas encouraged his companion. Sabine nodded with a smile. "Ready, Begin!"

The Holo-Guard went on the offensive and dashed forward with incredible speed and almost hit Sabine's legs with his Saberstaff. Sabine dodged the attempted strike by flipping over the lightsaber and punched the Holo-Guards masked face. The Holo-Guard wasn't really fazed by the attack and returned the favor. Sabine used her electrostaff to parry his blows and strike him when he was vulnerable. The Holo-Guard was beginning to show fatigue from all of the blows that Sabine gave him with her electrostaff, but that didn't mean he was going to give up. The Holo-Guard began to dart around Sabine in an attempt to disorient her. Sabine was beginning to lose focused until she remembered trial two of her training. Sabine calmed down and focused, once she heard the air come in her direction she swung her electrostaff to her left and hit the Holo-Guard flat in the process. Sabine delivered the coup de grace by plunging her staff into the Holo-Guards chest, causing HK-51 to return to his true form.

"You pass, and I can see why my master likes you!" HK-51 remarked cheerfully.

"Well done Sabine, you are now worthy of the title Mandalorian, you should be very proud, and you are halfway to Akaan status!" Leonidas complimented his girlfriend.

Sabine smiled and gave Leonidas a thumbs up. "So do I get some kind of a prize for accomplishing this?" Sabine asked sarcastically.

"How about this?" Leonidas replied before pulling Sabine into a kiss. Once the two Mandos separated they decided to wake up the others. Sabine went to wake up Hera and Zeb, while Leonidas went to wake Ezra and Kanan.

Leonidas went into the two Jedi's room and yelled, "Wakey, Wakey, before my trigger finger gets shaky!"

The two Jedi woke up rather startled. They looked around to see Leonidas standing by the doorway. Ezra asked, "Why did you wake us up!?"

Leonidas answered, "We need to stay on our toes and get as much training in as possible to defeat the Empires elite!"

"He's right, Ezra, we need to take the Empire more seriously now, in the past they were complete morons, but now they sent in actual soldiers." Kanan explained.

"You should listen to your master Ezra." Leonidas advised. Before Ezra could argue Leonidas was already gone. "How does he do that?"

Leonidas was now back at the kitchen to fix the crew up some Gi dumpling soup, another Mandalorian delicacy. Leonidas first mixed up some vegetable with water to make broth, and pulled out some fish from the ship's freezer and cut them up with his vibroknife. Sabine came in to kitchen to see what Leonidas was up to and decided to help make breakfast with him. Sabine proved to be an expert at mixing up spice and seasoning, another talent that came in handy for survival. Once the soup was done, Sabine added her spices into the pot. Leonidas tasted it and his eyes lit up, "Best Gi dumpling soup I've ever tasted, well done Sabine!"

Once everyone found out that the two Mandos were making breakfast, to say that they were afraid would be an understatement, Mandalorian food didn't exactly agree with them. The crew often wondered how the Mandos enjoyed the Mandalorian cuisine. Zeb was more afraid of Tiingilar then he was of death.

"My fellow crewmates, breakfast is ready!" Leonidas announced. Sabine came out with a soup pot that contained red liquid and balls of meat floating in it. "Sabine and I have made you a rather popular Mandalorian delicacy: Gi dumpling soup, with a secret ingredient compliments of Sabine Wren." Leonidas continue. The crew exchanged nervous glances when they got a gander of the pot's contents.

"So who wants to get their soup first?" Sabine asked. After a few minutes of silence, Zeb stepped forward and put some of the soup into his bowl. All eyes were on the Lasat as he tasted some of the soup. Zeb's eyes lit up and ate some more of the dumpling soup.

"This is amazing you two!" Zeb exclaimed, before trying the dumpling which furthered his delight.

One by one the crew went up and tried some of the soup, and they each had the same reaction, Zeb even got seconds. The crew began to chat as usual during breakfast. Leonidas and Sabine spent their time training, Ezra was running from Zeb because he shaved "Skin Me" into his back, Chopper was chatting with HK-51; surprisingly the two became friends, Hera was tweaking with the ships shield generator so it would be more durable, and Kanan was formulating the plan.

Once everyone was gathered into the rec room once more Kanan briefed them on the plan. "Okay, Imperial Academy Orion is heavily fortified, however they are unaware of our rebellion as the personnel have been confined to training cadets, and this gives us just the opening we need to get two of us inside."

"We already tried disguising me as a cadet but the Inquisitor sensed me, they will be prepared for that." Ezra interjected.

"Already accounted for Ezra, the academy is hiring bounty hunters to train cadets, so Leonidas and Sabine will be infiltrating the Academy under the guise of a bounty hunter, once in they will check the supply manifest for the academy and give us verification of the Holocron's presence." Kanan finished.

"We won't let you down sir!" Leonidas told the Jedi.

"That's what I like to hear, if the Holocron is indeed there then the rest of the team will infiltrate the academy and rendezvous with you at the supply garage, then we'll proceed to the Holocron's location to retrieve it, and we'll be training for the worse, we don't want a repeat of Saleucami."

"Yes sir!" the crew exclaimed in unison with a salute.

"Good luck and may the force be with you all."

**And that's a rap! I don't want to hear any criticism on the characters, I'd also like to announce that anyone who makes a Sabine x OC fanfiction is an honorary member of either clan Akaan or Oberus, I'll be watching for them and when I see it, I'll PM you asking if you'd like to be an honorary member. May God bless you all! Glory to Mandalore!**

**A/N: I'll update once I reach 75 reviews, and I don't need recognition, I just need to know that people want my story to continue. **

**Read, Review, and most importantly Enjoy!**


	7. Chapter 7

The Mandalorian Rebel

Chapter 7

**Guten Tag my friends, and I'd like to thank you and all you awesome reviewers out there! The fact that you stick with me through thick and thin, is proof that you have faith that I will continue, and I reward good faith. I'd also like to recommend that you read these stories: The Admiral's Foley by Chillingchild, and Fly Now by Awesome Bill from Dawsonville. Both follow the trend Sabine x OC and need your support as well.**

**Constructive criticism is appreciated, I'm always looking for ways to improve. However I'd only like advice for future chapters, I'm not changing the ones I've already written. **

**Disclaimer: Star Wars is property of Disney, all I own are my OCs Major Viron, the cadets and Leonidas Akaan.**

The Ghost still had an hour of traveling through hyperspace to go before they reached Lothal. The crew was all gearing up and doing some last minute training. Leonidas was sparring with Sabine until a thought crossed his mind, Leonidas signaled Sabine for a timeout.

"Sabine, may I ask a favor of you?" Leonidas asked the female Mando. Sabine nodded.

"My armor will surely be recognized by an imperial soldier on Lothal." Leonidas told Sabine.

"What makes you say that?" Sabine asked curiously.

"Let's just say your crew wasn't the only one who had to steal from the Empire to survive." Leonidas explained with a grin, "So I was wondering if you could repaint it."

"You came to the right person," Sabine exclaimed excitedly, "What type of color design do you have in mind?"

Leonidas shrugged, "Surprise me."

Leonidas changed into his camouflaged jeans and undershirt before handing Sabine his armor. Sabine took it to her room and got out her spray paint. "What color to paint his armor?" Sabine mused to herself. She always found that the color scheme of one's armor should match their personality. Leonidas was stealthy, calm, and unpredictable, just like the darkness of shadows. Sabine shook up her spray-paint and got to work. Painting over another color wasn't an easy task, you had to have just the right blend to get the color you want, and given the fact that the armor belonged to her boyfriend made her put extra care and effort into her work.

"So you got Sabine to repaint your armor?" Ezra asked Leonidas. The two were playing holochess with Leonidas winning. Leonidas nodded and moved his Gundark to intercept and annihilate Ezra's K'lorr slug.

"Darn it", Ezra shouted, "How are you so good?"

"Back with my clan, holochess was the only form of entertainment we had during our short breaks from our regimes" Leonidas explained, "And are you going to accept my offer?"

"I'm still thinking about it." Ezra told the warlord.

Before the game could continue Sabine came into the room and exclaimed, "Its ready, Leonidas!" Leonidas got up and followed Sabine to their room. Once the Mando laid his eyes on his freshly painted armor he said, "Beautiful job Sabine, simply amazing!" Sabine blushed bashfully from the compliment.

"Hey, Leonidas and Sabine, Kanan is beginning to assemble the crew get to the rec room ASAP." Hera intruded.

"We'll be there in a minute Hera!" Sabine told the Twi'lek.

"You go tell them I'm changing into my armor, I'll be there in a few minutes." Leonidas told Sabine. Sabine gave Leonidas a peck on the cheek before going to the rec room.

After a few minutes Leonidas arrived at the rec room in his newly painted armor, the crew was impressed with Sabine's work. Leonidas's armor was a light shade of black, his helmet was painted to resemble a wolf's head. His shoulder pads and kneepads were painted with the Mandalorian symbol with a red background. The outline of his helmet's visor was red as well and a red stripe went over the top of his helmet.

"Wow, you look even more dangerous kid!" Zeb complimented.

"All the credit should go to Sabine, she painted this armor." Leonidas told the Lasat.

Once everyone was all geared up and ready to roll Kanan gave assignments to the rest of the crew, "Ezra, Zeb, and I will hide amongst the market district and keep our eyes open for any imperial activity, HK-51 will stay with Hera and Chopper to protect the Ghost, Leonidas and Sabine will contact us when they discover any noteworthy information, understood?" Kanan ordered. "Yes sir!" the crew shouted in tandem.

On Lothal Leonidas and Sabine boarded a rocket tram to the academy. Leonidas and Sabine looked around to see that the other passengers looked like young and energetic soldiers who have just been welcomed to this world, they defiantly lacked training and discipline. "Look around Sabine, these might be who we will be training." Leonidas whispered to Sabine.

Leonidas and Sabine were going to wipe the cadets clean of any ignorance or overconfidence. The two Mandos knew the mission, but they went over how they would train the cadets incase the mission became long term. Leonidas decided to not use an alias on this mission as his clan's genocide was unknown to all except those who took part in it. Once they arrived they observed the academy.

It was huge, you could see a few squadrons of cadets running behind the drill sergeant. TIE fighters came and went, AA-guns watched the skies attentively, and blaster fire could be heard from the shooting range in the distance.

"Ah, Sabine and Leonidas", a voice said," It's truly great that you've come to train the future armies of our noble empire!"

The two Mandos turned to see that the voice belonged to Major Jarvis Viron. The Mandalorian couple saluted him and stood at attention. The Major returned the salute and reassured them, "No need to treat me like that, you're just here as instructors not as students."

"We only see it fit to treat a Major with respect, sir!" Sabine told Viron. Leonidas had trained her in the art of infiltration and undercover acting, she was just as good if not better then himself.

"I'd say that all those mercenaries out there could learn a thing from you two", Viron complimented, "Now follow me." The two Mandos complied and followed the Major through the Academy's perimeter. They walked past the checkpoint and saw that the inside was full of doorways to training rooms and offices, supply officer's carried crates to the supply locker, and cadets were following their instructors to their next training session, just like a school.

"Why hire mercenaries to train your cadets?" Leonidas asked with fake curiosity, knowing full well why.

"A commonly asked question Leonidas", the Major chuckled, "You see, I find that mercenaries possess a certain… what's the word for it, ah yes finesse, that Imperial instructors lack."

"What kind of finesse?" Sabine asked with the same fake curiosity that Leonidas used.

"The ability to adapt." Viron answered, "If all of our cadets were raised underneath the same principles, techniques, and training, then they would all share the same weakness and would all be pulverized once that weakness is exploited. Our troops on the streets of Lothal are unable to adapt to the situation and are easily killed by those Lothal rebels."

"Interesting theory, Viron." Leonidas stated. Viron nodded in appreciation.

"Now for your job details" the Major announced, "The payout is five grand a day, and the squad you will be training is known as Quasar Company."

"I must warn you Major, Sabine and I have a pretty strict training course, and chances are some of the cadets may quit the academy." Leonidas told the Instructor.

"That's why I hired you", Viron answered, "At this time we need quality not quantity, your rigorous training exercises will weed out the wimps unworthy of the title Imperial."

"Understood Major!" The two Mandos shouted in unison with a salute. Viron returned it and said, "Your room will be room 12-3K, your training of Quasar Company begins in an hour, don't go easy on them just because they're fifteen."

The Mandos moved into their room, it was rather basic, a bunk for each of them and a holochess table. Leonidas didn't bring much with him, only his pistols and armor, same deal with Sabine. The two indulged in a friendly game of holochess, and Leonidas once again won the game. The two continued on until it was time to train the cadets. The Mandalorians moved into another wing of the Academy: The Training Facility. The room was dull at first glance, but if you looked closely you'd see that there were hidden obstacles and training materials that could appear with just the push of a button. There was a line of cadets wearing trainee armor that had the colors of orange and green, which made them look like Felucian warriors.

"Ah, the Mandalorian duo is here." Viron announced to the cadets. The two Mandos removed their helmets and introduced themselves.

"I'm Leonidas Akaan, and this is my girlfriend Sabine." Leonidas introduced. A few cadets looked disappointed that Sabine already had a boyfriend.

"As Leonidas here said, I'm Sabine Wren, we look forward to training you to be the finest soldiers this Academy has ever trained." Sabine said to the newbies.

"You cadets are to treat these two with respect, I'll be going now." Viron ordered.

Leonidas walked down the line of cadets, they did their best to stay calm and focused, but it was hard with the intimidating look Leonidas was giving them.

"Cadets, do you know why the Empire hired Sabine and I to train you?" Leonidas asked the trainees. One cadet raised his hand. "And you are?" Leonidas asked.

"Private First Class Avery Marvak, squad leader." Marvak introduced.

"That remains to be seen Marvak, but why do you think that the Empire hired us?" Leonidas asked sternly.

"Because they need variety in their training so no squad is the same." Marvak answered.

"That is correct Marvak." Leonidas stated.

"Why should we listen to the likes of you mercenary scum?" One voice asked in disgust.

Leonidas walked up to the voice's owner, the voice's owner, a young by with a cocky air about him.

"Because I'm more experienced, boy." Leonidas answered coldly.

"Please, I could easily take you down." The boy said cockily.

"Let's but your theory to the test, but first I want to know the name who I'm about to send to the ER." Leonidas snapped.

"I'm Viktor Perov, son of the great General Anton Perov." The boy bragged.

Sabine rolled her eyes, that kid didn't know what he had just got himself into.

The two got into position and began to brawl. Victor recklessly tried to left hook Leonidas, but Leonidas grabbed his fist and twisted his arm. Leonidas punched Viktor's chin knocking him down. When Viktor was trying to stand up, Leonidas roundhouse kicked his face giving him a severely bloody nose. When Viktor attempted to low sweep Leonidas, Leonidas grabbed his leg and bent it back, causing Viktor to scream in agony. Leonidas grabbed the boy's armor by the collar and lifted him up with one hand, and with his free hand gave the cocky kid a black eye. He then tossed Viktor onto the floor.

"Let this be a warning to all of you who dare question your superior!" Leonidas shouted.

All of the cadets' risk of disobeying the Mandalorians, vanished. A few shuffled uneasily, and a few were happy that the brat got what he deserved.

Sabine activated her holocom and reported calmly, "This is Sabine, and we need a med team in training room QE-121 stat." The cadets and instructors waited for a few minutes before the med team arrived to help the maimed Viktor.

"What you saw back there, displayed the difference between the elite and the nimrods who patrol the streets of Lothal and are easily slaughtered by the rebels. The question is, will you be able to recognize an inferior or superior foe, that brat Viktor couldn't tell the difference and look were that got him, you all have much to learn before you get to Sabine and I's status."

"Permission to speak sir?" Marvak asked.

"Granted." Sabine answered this time.

"Although Viktor was a snob, he was the squad's second in command, now we need a new one." Marvak reported.

"That's why in the morning Leonidas and I will be having tryouts for the position of second in command, whoever shows the most character and effort will be Quasar Company's second in command." Sabine explained.

"In the meantime let's see how you fair in electrostaff combat, I need to know who is best in each field to make you the best team there is." Leonidas ordered. The cadets saluted and stood at attention. Leonidas walked through the line and inspected each one of them to determine who would fight who in the first round. Leonidas signaled Sabine to activate the training course, Sabine complied and pushed a button on a holopad. Walls began to emerge from the room's blank structure and a rack full of electrostaffs were also present.

"You two!" Leonidas ordered while pointing at two troopers.

The two stood at attention, "Yes sir, what are your orders sir?"

"I like your attitudes, but I'd like to know your names." Leonidas instructed.

One boy with buzz cut black hair and green eyes said, "My name is Lance McCoy sir!"

The other one was a girl with short red hair and blue eyes, she said, "Alena Trevon reporting for duty, sir!"

"At ease", Leonidas ordered and the cadets did as they were told, "I look at you two and I see two cadets with a bright future, but that bright future will be darkened by the challenges that will present themselves to you on your journey to the elite. I'm here to train all of you to overcome those challenges and be the best there is. Some amongst you will become your rivals and some your friends, or possibly much more then friends. You are Quasar Company, let the name resonate for years to come!"

"Hoo-ah!" the cadets shouted at once.

"That's what I like to here!" Leonidas complimented. "Sabine here will give you the training exercises details."

Sabine nodded and stepped forward, "This training course before you is like a maze, just like the streets of Lothal, you must make the hunter the prey. McCoy and Trevon will enter this maze at separate locations, the maze is rigged with mini-turrets and traps so you must avoid them and defeat your opponent to pass. Good luck!"

Leonidas gave both of the cadets electrostaffs and had them move to enter the maze at separate locations. McCoy was nervous, he knew that Mandalorians were famous for their warrior heritage and had high expectations, and after witnessing how Leonidas beat Viktor within an inch of his life made him all the more nervous. "Relax Lance, Viktor was only beaten because he defied his superior, you won't make the same mistake, and just give this maze the best you got."

Alena's moral was cut down to size after what Leonidas did to Viktor. "Relax Alena, you can do this."

Sabine and Leonidas had cameras surveying the area so they could watch the cadets' performance. Both had promise but the question was: Who would triumph?

A horn went off and the entrances opened and both cadets entered the mysterious maze. The maze was almost pitch black so McCoy switched to night vision. The maze had an eerie silence to accommodate its pitch darkness, McCoy listened for any noise and stood alert. McCoy kept his electrostaff deactivated his position wouldn't be too easily exposed to Alena.

Alena herself was on alert as well and used the same tactics as McCoy did, it was a pretty basic tactic. Suddenly a turret popped out of the wall and opened fire on Alena. Alena used her sharp reflexes to deflect the blaster fire with her electrostaff, she kept the electrostaff spinning and advanced on the turret. Once the female cadet was close enough she plunged her electrostaff into the turret's "head", effectively disabling it.

"Impressive, Alena shows much promise and skill for Quasar Company." Sabine complimented the young cadet's fighting skills.

"She's just like that special girl I met on Tatooine." Leonidas playfully referred to Sabine.

McCoy heard the blaster fire and surmised that it was Alena's location, he sprinted forward only to have triggered a turret trap! The turret popped out of the ground and opened fire on McCoy. McCoy barely blocked the turret fire in time, he began to agilely dodge each shot of the turret as opposed to using his electrostaff. McCoy jumped atop the turret and ripped out its wiring, disabling it.

"McCoy prefers to use his own natural abilities as opposed to his weapon." Leonidas mused.

"He reminds me of you." Sabine complimented.

Alena rounded the corner, only to run straight into McCoy! The two quickly activated their staffs and began to duel. Alena was clearly more skilled in the use of the electrostaff, but McCoy was clearly advanced with his own abilities, this would be interesting.

Alena was the first to strike, she swung her electrostaff at McCoy's ribcage but McCoy parried the blow with his own electrostaff. Alena tried to hit her opponent again by swinging it at McCoy's head. McCoy was painfully knocked down, but luckily he managed to roll out of the way in time before Alena could deliver the finishing blow. McCoy needed a diversion and fast, otherwise he would lose the fight. McCoy saw what appeared to be a pressure plate for a trap. McCoy swiftly moved past Alena and the pressure plate. McCoy began to coax Alena into coming after him. Alena took the bait and sprinted forward. Big mistake, the pressure plate activated a turret trap! The turret began to open fire on Alena, giving McCoy the distraction he needed to finish off Alena. McCoy plunged his electrostaff into Alena's back, knocking her out.

"Training exercise over, winner, McCoy." Leonidas's voice resonated from the intercom. The maze began to retreat back into the floor and the room's light greeted the two trainees. McCoy covered his eyes so they could adjust after being in a pitch black maze.

"Great job Alena, you almost had me." McCoy complimented Alena while offering her his hand. Alena took it and McCoy helped her get up.

"You aren't so bad yourself." Alena returned the compliment. Both cadets removed their helmets and stood at attention as Sabine and Leonidas approached them.

"Well done you to, although McCoy won, you both showed us where you excel and where you need improvement", Leonidas explained, "McCoy, your ability to use your own talents as opposed to your weapon is remarkable, but you need to work on honing your reflexes, you had a few close calls back there."

"Understood, Sir!" McCoy acknowledged with a salute.

"Alena, your skills with an electrostaff are top notch", Sabine explained to the female trainee, "But you need to work on your own natural talents, because if your electrostaff is taken away from you, you'll need to rely on your own talents."

"Yes ma'am!" Alena saluted Sabine.

"Everyone else, your testing begins tomorrow so get some shuteye, you'll need it." Leonidas ordered after realizing how much time had passed.

Everyone was making their way to their bunks, Leonidas and Sabine were doing the same until they ran into Major Viron.

"You two did an excellent job during your training session." Viron complimented, "And between you and me I'm glad that you maimed Viktor, that snob has been a thorn in this academies hind."

"We're just doing our job sir." Leonidas answered.

"You are too humble", Viron interjected, "But you have to give you and your girlfriend some credit."

"I'll do that, but we need some sleep, tomorrows a big day for those cadets."

**And that's a rap.**

**You guys are so supportive, to be honest I never thought that my story would get past chapter one, thankfully I was wrong! You guys make it possible for me to continue, and I appreciate that. God Bless! Glory to Mandalore!**

**And to answer your question guest: What makes you think that the Shadow Leader on Saleucami was the Inquisitor? **

**And to be clear this isn't a crossover, some of you think Leonidas is the Leonidas from the movie 300, but it's just a name, not a crossover.**

**I'll update once I reach 90 reviews.**

**Read, Review, and Enjoy!**


	8. Chapter 8

The Mandalorian Rebel

Chapter 8

**Hello again my friends, I've been busy lately, but that won't stop me from updating my story. To all you awesome people out there who've made a Sabine x OC story, I salute you. The ones that do exist are defiantly worth reading. Many of you have potential to write a great Sabine x OC story. Believe me I was rather nervous when I started this story, but my story captured more attention then I could've ever imagined.**

******Constructive criticism is appreciated, I'm always looking for ways to improve. However I'd only like advice for future chapters, and I'm not changing the ones I've already written.**

**Disclaimer: Star Wars Rebels is property of Disney, all I own is Major Jarvis Viron, the cadets, and Leonidas.**

The sector 12k in Imperial Academy Orion was peaceful, something that rarely happened, it was all hustle and bustle during training until nightfall where the cadets would enjoy whatever sleep they could. Leonidas and Sabine always woke up early and today was no exception, today was the day in which the cadets that are worthy of the title private would be revealed. Leonidas and Sabine quietly made their way to the cafeteria, having a few hours to kill before they had to start training the cadets. When the two Mandos found their way to the mess hall they got their food and sat down at one of the many tables.

"Leonidas, Sabine, good morning!" a voice belonging to Major Viron greeted, "May I join you two?"

"Of course sir." Sabine told the Major.

"I heard about what happened yesterday, great job at training the cadets." Viron complimented.

"It was only day one sir." Leonidas answered humbly.

"I know, but you left one heck of an impression, that is what shows the cadets who their superiors are." Viron explained, "Which reminds me, here is your payout for today." Major Viron handed the two Mandalorians a fat stack of credits.

"Don't tell anyone, but I added an extra one thousand in there." Major Viron whispered.

"Why would you pay us extra?" Leonidas asked.

"Consider it a tip." Major Viron answered with a smile on his face.

"Well Sabine and I appreciate it." Leonidas replied.

"Major Viron", Sabine asked getting Viron's attention, "I have a question."

"What is it?" Major Viron asked curiously.

"Leonidas and I have met many officers, but you are different than them." Sabine stated.

"How so?" Jarvis asked.

"You seem to be a lot more cheerful and easygoing, why is that?" Sabine answered.

Viron put a piece of Jogun into his mouth and began to chew it slowly, and his face displayed deep thought. After thirty seconds of silence Viron finally explained, "When I first was recruited for the Imperial military many of my fellow cadets broke due to the ruthlessness of our drill sergeants. Many of the recruits' souls were shattered by all the work we were put through, and I was desperate to find a way to remedy the situation. I became more easygoing to lessen the emotional pain my squad suffered, and it inspired many others to just go with the flow. My mother and father would always tell me that a good mood spreads faster than a Rakghoul plague."

"Very impressive sir." Sabine complimented the Major who nodded in gratitude.

"How did your instructors take your good attitude?" Leonidas asked.

"Let's just say they weren't very happy with it, and they saw it as a weakness." Viron explained, "However once an ISB agent noticed how it boosted morale he made me squad leader."

"Why are you telling us all this, you just met us yesterday?" Leonidas asked curiously.

"The way you handled the cadets told me that there was something special about you two, and any effective leader is a friend of mine!" Jarvis replied cheerfully.

"I look forward to knowing you both better, to companionship!" Viron proposed a toast with his water glass.

Sabine and Leonidas thought for a moment, "Major Viron was an Imperial, however his easygoing yet stern attitude grew on them."

"To companionship." Leonidas and Sabine repeated in unison.

"Well as much as I'd love to continue our pleasant chat I have work to do, perhaps we can get to know each other a little better at lunch, later you two." Viron said before leaving.

"He sure is unique." Leonidas mused.

"I concur, I've never met an Imperial officer like him, he's… different." Sabine agreed.

"He might also be our key to the holocron." Leonidas stated.

The two finished their breakfast and went to awake the cadets. Sabine had to admit, she loved being a drill instructor, but she knew that this was an undercover op and she knew that she couldn't get too attached to the cadets. Leonidas and Sabine walked into the cadets' bunk room.

"Wakey Wakey, before my trigger finger gets shaky!" Leonidas shouted at the top of his lungs. Many of the cadets were startled and one fell off of one of the top bunks. Each cadet scrambled to get their gear and get into an inspection line. Leonidas monitored how long it took each of the cadets to prepare for the day, knowing it would play a key role when he had to decide who the second in commands would be. Once everyone was in line and at attention Leonidas walked by the line inspecting each cadet.

"Most of you would be dead right now if this was a real attack, this cadet here got ready in record time, tell us your name son." Leonidas ordered. The cadet had buzz cut blonde hair and light green eyes, and he carried a sense of obedience with his presence.

"Jackson Zephyrs, sir!" Jackson answered with the utmost respect.

"You have set a record for this team to follow, from this point on your codename will be: Swift." Leonidas announced, "You have also earned the rank of private for beating the academy record by four point two seconds!"

"Thank you sir, it's an honor, sir!" the newly named Swift replied.

"I like your attitude kid, you have made your way to the position of one of the second in commands for Quasar Company!" Sabine complimented this time.

PFC Marvak raised his hand, "Yes Marvak?" Leonidas asked.

"I thought you said that there would be one second in command sir." Marvak stated.

"I'm glad you brought that up Avery, you see corruption is everywhere", Leonidas explained, "And we can't afford to have corruption within Quasar Company's ranks, and if the second in command is a traitor then the rest of the squad would be dragged down with him, so I've decided to have six second in commands, each specializing in a certain field. This way Quasar Company won't be brought down by the betrayal of one person."

The cadets agreed with it after a moment of thought. "Excellent, now go get some breakfast, you are going to need all your energy, and your training will begin in twenty minutes." Leonidas announced.

In the cafeteria the cadets were getting their food and sitting down, and the cafeteria was abuzz with conversation and chatter. Some cadets talked about what they predicted the training exercises would be, some would joke, and some would remain silent. McCoy was particularly proud of himself for meeting Leonidas's expectations, but he didn't brag about it and was humble about his accomplishment. He also began to notice Alena more than he used to, he seemed to be more drawn to her after seeing her fighting capabilities firsthand. He didn't know what it was that made him want to spend more time with Alena but he chose to try to make friends with her. After getting his breakfast he saw Alena sitting by herself, seeing the opportunity McCoy made his move.

"May I sit with you?" McCoy asked Alena.

The redhead looked up and said, "Sure thing Lance."

For five minutes they sat in silence until McCoy decided to break the ice, "So how are you doing this morning?"

"Not bad, I'm really jazzed about Sabine and Leonidas's training exercises, their methods really got my blood pumping, it was fun fighting you in the maze by the way." Alena answered.

"I still think you would've won if it wasn't for that turret trap." McCoy told the fiery redhead.

"You have to give yourself some credit McCoy, you used your resources and won, that sounds like a fair win to me." Alena said.

The two cadets were interrupted by another voice, "May I join you two lovebirds?"

The voice belonged to Jackson "Swift" Zephyrs. "We aren't lovebirds, Swift." McCoy snapped.

Swift took a seat and chuckled, "Denial is the first sign of attraction."

The two cadets decided to ignore the comment and invited him to sit with them. Swift nodded in gratitude and sat down and began to chew his Bantha meat.

"So do you think I could earn a cool code name like you did Swift?" McCoy asked.

"I dunno those Mandos are unpredictable, but hey, I'm glad I got a cool codename so I ain't complaining." Swift answered.

"Why don't we work together to earn the ranks of private?" Alena suggested while on the topic of training. The two male cadets thought for a moment before nodding in agreement.

"To teamwork!" The trio said while bumping their fists together in the center of the table to seal their alliance.

"Now this is what I like to see, cadets working together to achieve a common goal!" another voice exclaimed. The voice belonged to Leonidas with Sabine not far behind.

"Sir, what do we owe the honor?" Swift saluted.

"At ease cadets." Leonidas reassured them. "This is what I like to see, teamwork. You are all one step closer to the rank of private. By collaborating you have broadened each other's horizons, I look forward to seeing that on the training field."

"Let's get move on now training is about to start." Sabine announced to all the cadets who formed a line behind her and Leonidas and followed them to the training room. This room had a giant pit with obstacles popping out of it like clockwork.

"This here cadets is the infamous pit, however Sabine here has taken the liberty of having the engineers modify it. We don't want those wimpy platforms to be the only obstacle am I right?" Leonidas shouted.

"Ho-ah!" The cadets shouted in agreement.

"Now this pit here requires two people to complete it. Instead of sending you all down at once we'll be doing something a little more interesting." Sabine explained while pushing some buttons on her wrist controls, causing the pit to shift. Out of the left side of the pit's walls emerged a tower-like structure with gaps that could be jumped and certain areas had an opening. The adjacent wall had platforms emerging from it and there were little targets on the bare gaps between every two platforms. Sabine pressed another button and a rack that had a sniper rifle and what appeared to a pair of gloves, emerged from the ground next to Leonidas.

"One person will provide sniper support for their teammate on the course", Sabine continued, "There will be some holodroids that will take the form of rebels that will attempt to hinder your progress, these droids will emerge from secret passages within the walls so be prepared for anything. These gloves will be for the infiltrator, A.K.A the flag runner. The gloves possess a strong magnetic pull allowing you to climb the walls like a Felucian. The flag at the bottom is the objective you must retrieve it and bring it out of the hole to pass."

"McCoy and Trevon are up first!" Leonidas stated. The said cadets stepped forward. McCoy took the sniper, while Alena took the gloves. Both cadets got into position, put on their helmets and waited for the signal. Once Leonidas fired the starting flare the two sprang into action.

McCoy leapt from platform to platform to provide Alena with covering fire. Alena was being agile and quick on her feet and jumped each platform. On one platform a Holo-Rebel popped out of the wall right in front of her and attempted to choke Alena. McCoy had to think quickly and lined up the shot and pulled the trigger. The blaster bolt went straight through the Holodroid's head causing it to go limb, Alena pushed off the droid and nodded towards McCoy. Alena was prepared for the next Holodroid and snapped its neck when it appeared. McCoy would move down as well and sniped each target on the wall causing a platform to slide out, however Alena had to move fast as the platforms detonated five seconds after they are touched. The cycle continued and the two Mandos were greatly impressed by the two soldiers' performance.

Alena retrieved the flag and signaled McCoy to move back up his route to cover her return. McCoy complied and began his ascent. Alena followed suit and began up her platforms. Alena saw a Holodroid pop out of the platform two steps up and pulled out a rifle and began to open fire on the platforms in front of Alena, destroying them. Alena used her magnetic gloves to quickly scale the wall and kicked the droid off of the platform, but not before taking its blaster. McCoy was already out of the pit not long after Alena.

"Well done you two!" Sabine complimented.

"Thanks, but where's Leonidas?" Alena asked.

"He just left a few seconds ago to take care of some things." Sabine told them. "Swift and Ferguson are next!"

Leonidas was trying to find Major Viron, moving from corridor to hallway. He searched for about ten minutes until he came across the Major.

"Major Viron, a moment of your time?" Leonidas asked.

"Certainly, but aren't you supposed to be training the cadets?" Viron answered.

"I know sir, but I need authorization to the academies' archives." Leonidas explained.

"Why would you need that?" Viron asked.

"To research some old fighting techniques used by the Jedi." Leonidas replied.

Viron stroked his stubble in deep thought. After thirty seconds of silence Viron decided, "Okay, I look forward to the techniques you teach Quasar Company, those poor children need the toughest and most advanced training we can give them, especially what they've been through prior to recruitment."

Now Leonidas was curious, "What did they go through prior to recruitment, Major?"

Viron sighed and looked around to see if no one was listening, but the hallways were quiet, save the faint blaster fire from the training pit.

"Almost every member of Quasar Company's parents were mysteriously murdered by someone wielding a green lightsaber." Major Viron whispered, "So the Empire gave the children a chance to seek revenge on the Jedi, my own mother and father were murdered by the same person 27 years ago, it was this that made me join the academy."

"Fascinating." Leonidas mused.

"Indeed." The Major concurred, "Those Jedis' ways have fallen since the Empire was formed."

"Well, I don't want to take up any more of your time sir, I'll be going now." Leonidas saluted.

Leonidas made his way to the data archives, thankfully it was currently void of life, and Sabine's training exercises were doing the trick at keeping everyone busy. Leonidas poked through the data wasn't finding anything on a holocron. Leonidas continued to poke around only to be snapped out of his thoughts by a distant beeping. Leonidas looked and saw it was a datapad and the beeping was signifying that it had recently been updated. Leonidas decided it was worth looking at and took the datapad to one of the many archive tables. Leonidas turned on the datapad and an entry appeared on the screen.

**This is Grand Moff Tarkin of the Imperial Navy. Since the Empire's formation the Emperor wants top quality recruits from the training academies. Sadly, not all of those soldiers are willing to join our noble Empire, so we have some strings to pull and loose ends to tie up, in order to achieve our goal. The Inquisitor will be dispatched to terminate the loose ends holding the future cadets back. The Inquisitor will assume the guise of a Jedi, this way not only will our Empire's ranks grow, but also our support for terminating what's left of the Republic.**

Leonidas was intrigued and decided to open the next entry.

**Our first Candidate for Project **_**Inherited Burden**_** is a young Dantooinian named Jarvis Viron. He will be the first for recruitment, however the boy will merely be a pawn in the grand scheme of things. Once he rises through the ranks, then he will train the other "Candidates" for project **_**Inherited Burden **_**in due time.**

Leonidas was startled by what he read, but he pulled up the first file for project _Inherited Burden_.

**Candidate: Jarvis Viron**

**Talents: Diligent, strong, cunning, and tactical.**

**Age: Six**

**Loyalties: His Family**

**Obstacles for recruitment: His Parents, they don't support the Empire or what we represent.**

**Obstacles Status: Terminated.**

Leonidas read the date in which this entry was made: Almost 27 years ago. Leonidas was disgusted with the Empires actions just to obtain a few recruits. He went to the next file.

**Candidate: Lance McCoy**

**Talents: Leadership, deadeye sniper, resourceful, and cunning.**

**Age: 7**

**Loyalties: McCoy farming industries; run by his family.**

**Obstacles for recruitment: His heritage, the boy is stubborn, but if we give him a little push then he might change his mind.**

**Obstacles Status: Terminated.**

Leonidas flipped to the next file.

**Candidate: Avery Marvak**

**Talents: Persuasive, Obedient, and Cunning.**

**Age: 8**

**Loyalties: His family.**

**Obstacles for recruitment: His family but mostly his older brother, whom he admires.**

**Obstacles Status: Terminated.**

Leonidas was in complete shock, these children lost their families just because the Empire wanted to recruit them. Leonidas looked through two more files.

**Candidate: Jackson Zephyrs**

**Talents: Swiftness, infiltration, hand-to-hand combat, and pickpocketing.**

**Age: 8**

**Loyalties: The Black Sun Osiris family.**

**Obstacles for recruitment: The Black Sun family that took him in and raised him.**

**Obstacles Status: Terminated.**

**Candidate: Alena Trevon**

**Talents: Close quarters combat, melee weapons, agility, and reflexes.**

**Age: 6**

**Loyalties: Her Family; they don't support the Empire, they brand us "Thugs".**

**Obstacles for recruitment: She sees no reason to join the Empire.**

**Obstacle Status: Remedied.**

**Family: Terminated.**

"Those monsters." Leonidas murmured to himself with anger. Now he had to get the files and get back to training. He downloaded all the files on _Inherited Burden_ and quickly left. When he got back he saw the cadets doing pushups with Sabine monitoring them.

"How it going Sabine?" Leonidas asked.

"Really well," Sabine answered, "Did you find anything on a holocron?"

"Negative, but I found something else, something sinister." Leonidas whispered. Before the discussion could proceed the cadets were done with their pushups.

"We are done, sir!" PFC Marvak reported with a salute. The cadets did the same.

"At ease!" Leonidas ordered, "Now I can only assume that Sabine drove all of you into the ground, am I right?"

The cadets nodded. "That's good, it means Sabine's doing her job!" Leonidas said, "I will now review the results of the pit."

Sabine handed Leonidas a datapad containing the time it took for the twenty four cadets to finish the course.

"Lance McCoy and Alena Trevon have beaten the academy record by ten seconds, good job!" Leonidas complimented. The two cadets blushed a little when the rest of the squad gave them a short applause.

"Step forward, and hand me your helmets." Leonidas ordered, the cadets complied. Leonidas took them and handed them to his girlfriend. Sabine took out her spray-paint and sprayed a symbol onto the helmets' foreheads. Leonidas handed them back to their owners who examined the new symbols. McCoy's helmet had a sniper sight symbol, and Alena's helmet had a symbol of an Anuba's face with red eyes.

"McCoy, you are promoted to private, congratulations!" Leonidas announced. "You shall now be known as Deadeye, expert of the sniper division!"

"It's an honor, sir!" McCoy saluted.

"Alena, you have been promoted to private, congrats!" Sabine announced. "You will now be known as Shadow, expert of the infiltration division!"

"It's my privilege, ma'am!" Alena said.

"Swift Zephyrs!" Leonidas addressed Jackson by his codename.

"Yes sir?" Swift replied while stepping forward.

"I saw you sitting at breakfast with Deadeye and Shadow, deciding to collaborate with them", Leonidas announced, "That is exactly what I want to see, working together to achieve a common goal, and achieved it you have, you are now expert of the Saboteur division. Your speed will prove to be quite handy."

"Thank you sir!" Swift saluted the Mandalorian.

"Hand me your helmet." Leonidas ordered. Swift complied obediently. Leonidas handed Swift's helmet to Sabine, who gave it a symbol.

"Thank you." Swift said gratefully. Swift then examined his helmet to see that the symbol was that of a Mastiff Phalone.

"Alright everyone break for lunch, I heard today its Nuna legs." Leonidas ordered. The cadets happily complied leaving Leonidas and Sabine alone. The two Mando's took off their helmets and kissed passionately.

"How did it go with them?" Leonidas asked.

"Very well actually, these cadets are quick learners, it's a pity that they will become Imperial soldiers." Sabine said looking down sadly.

"I wouldn't be too sure of that, where you see future Imperial soldiers I see future rebels." Leonidas exclaimed.

"How do ya figure?" Sabine asked.

"Do you remember me telling you that I found something inside the archives?" Leonidas answered, and Sabine nodded. "Well, have a look, this datapad is a copy of the project they call _Inherited Burden."_

Sabine took the datapad began reading. She gasped after a few minutes and was devastated when she read the rest of the files. She gave it back to Leonidas and asked, "Their families, did the Empire really…?"

Leonidas nodded, "We better contact Kanan."

Sabine agreed and the two made their way to their room's mini-holoterminal_. _Sabine fiddled with the controls and an image of Kanan appeared on the terminal.

"_Leonidas, Sabine, any evidence of a holocron yet_?" Kanan asked.

"Negative, but I found something sinister in the archives while searching for the holocron", Leonidas reported, "I'm sending you a copy of the data now."

_In a cantina in Lothal city…_

Kanan received the intel on an empty datapad in a cantina with Ezra and Zeb looking out for Imperials. Once he got all of the info he began to read it.

"N-No, how could they?" Kanan said to himself after reading the first entry. He went to the next entry and the next, feeling more distraught by the minute. "Those Imperial scum!" Kanan slammed his fist onto the terminal.

"_Stay calm, Kanan!" _Leonidas's hologram told the Jedi.

"Calm?" Kanan demanded almost too loud. "How do you expect me to calm down? The Inquisitor has slain children's families!"

"_Because being angry about it won't bring the families back." _Leonidas reasoned.

Kanan took a deep breath to calm himself, "Alright then, by the looks of things there is no holocron, you and Sabine should get out of there."

"_Negative Kanan, I see an opportunity that could strengthen our rebellion." _Leonidas replied.

"And what would that be?" Zeb asked from behind Kanan; startling the Jedi.

"_I'm glad that you asked that question Zeb"_, Leonidas answered, "_How do you think Quasar Company would react once they discover that the Empire was responsible for their families deaths?"_

Zeb thought for a moment before nodding with a grin on his face. Kanan also figured out what Leonidas was implying.

"The cadets would rebel!" Kanan exclaimed.

"_Precisely!" _Leonidas said, "_However, Sabine and I must earn their trust first before we reveal Project Inherited Burden to them._"

"Alright, I believe in you two, if you pull this off, it will be a huge help to the rebellion." Kanan replied after some contemplation.

"_Thank you sir!" _Leonidas exclaimed, "_We won't let you down, may the Force be with you."_ The holoterminal deactivated and Ezra had just returned from lookout duty.

"Hey guys what'd I miss?" Ezra asked.

"Oh nothing" Zeb said casually, "Just a plan formulated by Leonidas and Sabine that could potentially strengthen this rebellion substantially."

"What!" Ezra exclaimed, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You looked like you were having fun with watch duty." Kanan joked. Ezra sighed and sat down at a table and looked a little depressed.

"What's the matter kid?" Kanan asked after taking the seat next to Ezra.

"It just seems that ever since Leonidas showed up, I've realized I'm weak of character and physical training." Ezra groaned.

"Ezra look, Leonidas wasn't wrong", Kanan said, surprising both Ezra and Zeb, "Leonidas has helped me realize that we have been fighting the nimrod Imperials, and we were getting overconfident, and the events on Saleucami made me finally realize the truth in Leonidas's words. Leonidas is mature for his age, and that's only because he was trained since the day he could walk. Ezra, you need to take it upon yourself to train independently when I can't instruct you. We need to train wherever and whenever we can to fight the Shadow Guard."

"I agree." Ezra responded.

"Then what are we waiting for" Zeb asked with a laugh, "There are tons of empty and secluded areas just waiting to be used for training!"

The three left the cantina to find the perfect spot to begin their training. The Rebellion is being taken to the next Level!

**Annnd that's a wrap! I apologize for the delay I've been busy lately. But I'm glad you are sticking through thick and thin. And if you have an idea for a Sabine x OC story, then write it, you'd be surprised at how many people would like it. I should know, my story is a lot more popular than I ever imagined, and it's all thanks to you wonderful; not to mention awesome, reviewers. Also give the other Sabine x OC stories out their some support, they need it. I've read them myself and they're defiantly worth checking out. God Bless.**

**Read, Review, and Enjoy!**

**Glory to Mandalore!**


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